I have a little flare pistol on my boat (in New York State, Lake Ontario). I believe this is required by US Coast Guard. I was told by West Marine that we cannot take these to Canada as they are "weapons." Is this true? Can this pistol be used as a weapon? Can it shoot regular shot gun shells? Are the flare shells lethal? Is it a danger to anyone? Does anyone know anything about this? I'd appreciate any info? Cheers, Steve
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Canada has some strange ideas but -
What do you expect from a country that was going to build a monument to draft dodgers? They do let you bring in a flare gun. It is probably required. Leave behind your bb and potato guns, sling shots, switch blades, spit wads, and gun cleaning kits etc. If you are caught with something they do not like (spit wads might be excepted), expect to be put on a list and searched thoroughly every time you see them. I have talked to a police officer who told me of a test he witnessed that was done with a 12 gauge shotgun shell test fired in a plastic flare pistol. He said that surprisingly it did not blow up as he expected but it might be ineffective and really hard to hold. They test fired it in a clamp. There are 25 mm metal flare guns and you can get a 12 gauge aluminum reducing sleeve but the sleeve is tapered inside to prevent using shotgun shells. I would think that a 25 mm flare would be pretty intimidating by itself. I have also heard of a round which shoots a lot of flaming material - magnesium pellets I think - which would be quite a deterrent. I do not know about the legality of such a device. Anything which is considered a weapon and not a signalling device might get you in a lot of trouble with the Canadian government. They are very "sensitive" about such things.
What do you expect from a country that was going to build a monument to draft dodgers? They do let you bring in a flare gun. It is probably required. Leave behind your bb and potato guns, sling shots, switch blades, spit wads, and gun cleaning kits etc. If you are caught with something they do not like (spit wads might be excepted), expect to be put on a list and searched thoroughly every time you see them. I have talked to a police officer who told me of a test he witnessed that was done with a 12 gauge shotgun shell test fired in a plastic flare pistol. He said that surprisingly it did not blow up as he expected but it might be ineffective and really hard to hold. They test fired it in a clamp. There are 25 mm metal flare guns and you can get a 12 gauge aluminum reducing sleeve but the sleeve is tapered inside to prevent using shotgun shells. I would think that a 25 mm flare would be pretty intimidating by itself. I have also heard of a round which shoots a lot of flaming material - magnesium pellets I think - which would be quite a deterrent. I do not know about the legality of such a device. Anything which is considered a weapon and not a signalling device might get you in a lot of trouble with the Canadian government. They are very "sensitive" about such things.
Of all the Counties
You could possibly go to Canada is most likely to be one of the safest. Did you see the report on TV a while ago where a reporter went door to door in Canada just walking up and opening front doors? Almost no one locked their front door. The crime rate in Canada is nothing compared to the US. For a country that has per capita as many or more guns than the US it makes one ponder why America is so violent. If you want to find out about flair guns being allowed in Canada I would call the US Coast Guard. If they don’t know I’ll bet they can tell you who to call.
You could possibly go to Canada is most likely to be one of the safest. Did you see the report on TV a while ago where a reporter went door to door in Canada just walking up and opening front doors? Almost no one locked their front door. The crime rate in Canada is nothing compared to the US. For a country that has per capita as many or more guns than the US it makes one ponder why America is so violent. If you want to find out about flair guns being allowed in Canada I would call the US Coast Guard. If they don’t know I’ll bet they can tell you who to call.
Flare Guns In Canada
Steve Yes "Flare Pistols" ARE allowed in Canada, the Canadian Coast requires all vessels operating on open waters (any water where you can operate a vessel more than 1 mile from shore) to carry them if the vessel is of more than 18 feet in length. Guys - As for the gun issue in Canada - you can make all the comments you want, I have travelled extensively in Canada and the USA and I have always felt pretty comfortable, but am I comfortable that a fairly high percentage of the population is allowed to carry a firearm (in some states) - not really! And I'm a gun owner! Patrick - you have the operative word there -WAS the whole thing is off (thank God!) - just like you we have idiot politicians in our country as well! And Abe - ahhh you may want to check on your geography, I don't think you have any counties, states or even the whole country that is bigger than Canada! But you are correct there are many areas in the US where it is every bit as safe as Canada - and to be fair there are areas in Canada where you want to make sure your door is locked at night too - there are bad guys everywhere and we have our problems here in the Great White North Too eh! See Ya and Good Sailing! Mike
Steve Yes "Flare Pistols" ARE allowed in Canada, the Canadian Coast requires all vessels operating on open waters (any water where you can operate a vessel more than 1 mile from shore) to carry them if the vessel is of more than 18 feet in length. Guys - As for the gun issue in Canada - you can make all the comments you want, I have travelled extensively in Canada and the USA and I have always felt pretty comfortable, but am I comfortable that a fairly high percentage of the population is allowed to carry a firearm (in some states) - not really! And I'm a gun owner! Patrick - you have the operative word there -WAS the whole thing is off (thank God!) - just like you we have idiot politicians in our country as well! And Abe - ahhh you may want to check on your geography, I don't think you have any counties, states or even the whole country that is bigger than Canada! But you are correct there are many areas in the US where it is every bit as safe as Canada - and to be fair there are areas in Canada where you want to make sure your door is locked at night too - there are bad guys everywhere and we have our problems here in the Great White North Too eh! See Ya and Good Sailing! Mike
So - Mike -
If you had been given the questions at the customs dock that I had to answer, you would have "felt" just as uncomfortable as I did. So Steve take note of this. They asked if I had any weapons. I said no. They asked if I knew what weapons were. Pretty condescending if you ask me. I said that I had fought two tours of duty in a war and had a pretty good idea and that I was not transporting any firearms or anything like that. I said that I harbored no such hostile intentions and only wanted to go to have a nice weekend in Ganges. The agent proceeded to read me a list of items one by one like bb guns, swords, spears, sling shots etc. and took a good ten minutes questioning me as if I was a criminal. It was completely ridiculous and you cannot tell me it wasn't. My friend who made the mistake of letting them see a gun cleaning kit did not get off so easy as I did. So don't tell me about how you have "felt". I was in no way so outspoken then as I am in the present forum. I am boycotting Canada for now and France too and will spend as little money there as I possibly can even though I live only 5 minutes away. The only place I have had any real experience with "crime" in the past ten years was when I parked my car in a government owned and manned parking building in Vancouver when every car in the lot was broken into. They took several thousand dollars of Christmas presents from the trunk of my car and broke a window to do so. The Vancouver police would not even come and take a report. They were too busy as I was told. They said it was just junkies and that I should have known better than to leave valuables in my trunk. They also said that if I had not locked the doors of my car, the window would probably not have been broken. *! That is why they leave their doors unlocked there. I know that I can go to Vancouver and find drugs of all sorts being sold with the open support of the government there. I will take gun problems over drug problems any time. The US has its problems but the junkies, murderers, traitors and cowards go north eventually because they are supported and or protected there by the socialist idiot government. Where else can you go to pay 15% sales tax?
If you had been given the questions at the customs dock that I had to answer, you would have "felt" just as uncomfortable as I did. So Steve take note of this. They asked if I had any weapons. I said no. They asked if I knew what weapons were. Pretty condescending if you ask me. I said that I had fought two tours of duty in a war and had a pretty good idea and that I was not transporting any firearms or anything like that. I said that I harbored no such hostile intentions and only wanted to go to have a nice weekend in Ganges. The agent proceeded to read me a list of items one by one like bb guns, swords, spears, sling shots etc. and took a good ten minutes questioning me as if I was a criminal. It was completely ridiculous and you cannot tell me it wasn't. My friend who made the mistake of letting them see a gun cleaning kit did not get off so easy as I did. So don't tell me about how you have "felt". I was in no way so outspoken then as I am in the present forum. I am boycotting Canada for now and France too and will spend as little money there as I possibly can even though I live only 5 minutes away. The only place I have had any real experience with "crime" in the past ten years was when I parked my car in a government owned and manned parking building in Vancouver when every car in the lot was broken into. They took several thousand dollars of Christmas presents from the trunk of my car and broke a window to do so. The Vancouver police would not even come and take a report. They were too busy as I was told. They said it was just junkies and that I should have known better than to leave valuables in my trunk. They also said that if I had not locked the doors of my car, the window would probably not have been broken. *! That is why they leave their doors unlocked there. I know that I can go to Vancouver and find drugs of all sorts being sold with the open support of the government there. I will take gun problems over drug problems any time. The US has its problems but the junkies, murderers, traitors and cowards go north eventually because they are supported and or protected there by the socialist idiot government. Where else can you go to pay 15% sales tax?
Flare guns
No political tirade here. I would not under any circumstances try to fire a 12-guage shot shell from a plastic flare gun, that would be a recipe for disaster. But I guarentee that if you fire a flare into someone at close range, you will hurt them and possibly kill them. At the very least you will scare the crap out of them. So is it a weapon? No, it's a signalling device--until you point it at someone. BTW, I had intuders board my boat on one occasion. I was asleep and didn't think of pulling out my flare gun, it just happened too fast. I yelled and screamed at them and they ran, but they were kids, not pirates. If you point a flare gun at pirates, they would probably counter with automatic weapons, and you won't win that battle. If I was in pirate waters, I'd want something stronger than a flare gun.
No political tirade here. I would not under any circumstances try to fire a 12-guage shot shell from a plastic flare gun, that would be a recipe for disaster. But I guarentee that if you fire a flare into someone at close range, you will hurt them and possibly kill them. At the very least you will scare the crap out of them. So is it a weapon? No, it's a signalling device--until you point it at someone. BTW, I had intuders board my boat on one occasion. I was asleep and didn't think of pulling out my flare gun, it just happened too fast. I yelled and screamed at them and they ran, but they were kids, not pirates. If you point a flare gun at pirates, they would probably counter with automatic weapons, and you won't win that battle. If I was in pirate waters, I'd want something stronger than a flare gun.
To Patrick
Patrick As I said before, we have problems here in Canada as well as you do in the USA, if you want to get into the whole political discussion we can. You can knock Canada all you want it won't change my opinion as I am probably as strong willed as you are. As for your car being broken into, I've been there and done that - bought the T Shirt even and still didn't like it. As for the border gaurd thing - don't even go there, I go through several times a month crossing the border into the US, some guys are great, some are not so great....on both sides of the border. Just as in life every where, there are good people and bad people, I have a ton of American friends as well as Canadian friends and so on...if you want to boycott our country - all I can say is you're cutting your nose off to spite your face. If I wanted to boycott the US everytime I had a bad experience I would have stopped visiting years ago - it's all part of life...get on with it! Good Sailing!! Aren't Hunters great boats though?? Mike
Patrick As I said before, we have problems here in Canada as well as you do in the USA, if you want to get into the whole political discussion we can. You can knock Canada all you want it won't change my opinion as I am probably as strong willed as you are. As for your car being broken into, I've been there and done that - bought the T Shirt even and still didn't like it. As for the border gaurd thing - don't even go there, I go through several times a month crossing the border into the US, some guys are great, some are not so great....on both sides of the border. Just as in life every where, there are good people and bad people, I have a ton of American friends as well as Canadian friends and so on...if you want to boycott our country - all I can say is you're cutting your nose off to spite your face. If I wanted to boycott the US everytime I had a bad experience I would have stopped visiting years ago - it's all part of life...get on with it! Good Sailing!! Aren't Hunters great boats though?? Mike
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