Handgun Transfer Exemption

The ability to transfer (and therefore purchase, inherit) Handguns was suspended in Bill C-21.  Many of us are concerned about the survival of our sport.

Within that legislation is the following clause:

Exception — handguns

97.1 Sections 12.2 and 19.1 do not apply in respect of an individual who:

a)      holds an authorization to carry in respect of a handgun; or
b)     meets the prescribed criteria and provides a letter to a chief firearms officer from a provincial or national sport shooting governing body indicating:
(i)     that they are training, competing or coaching in a handgun shooting discipline that is on the programme of the International Olympic Committee or the International Paralympic Committee,
(ii)   the disciplines in which they train, compete or coach, and
c)      that the handgun in question is necessary for training, competing or coaching in those disciplines.

BC Target Sports Association is that Provincial sport shooting governing body in BC.

What this means, is that if you are training, competing, or coaching in an Olympic or Paralympic discipline using Handguns, BCTSA can provide an exemption allowing you to purchase appropriate handguns.  Generally, this means .22 caliber pistols.  You are not expected to be proficient or competitive, just wishing to train in the sport.  We offer this to all BCTSA members, including the members of Affiliated Clubs.

Over the summer of 2023, we met with the Chief Firearms Officer for BC and worked out a process for this exemption.

In order to request an exemption letter, I ask that you fill out a request letter and email it to targetsports@BCTSA.bc.ca.  I will then generate the exemption request from there.  The process may take a bit of time, depending on the details, but should, generally, be quite quick on our end.

Acceptable Firearms are generally .22 calibre.  Entry level handguns are acceptable, as are the more expensive, competition quality handguns.