Trigger locks are only required if the gun is not stored in a locked cabinet, closet, etc. Here in Saskatchewan it is unlawful to carry a gun out of its case in a provincial park, on an atv or travelling on a provincial highway after legal shooting hours (1/2 hour before sunrise and 1/2 hour after sunset). They are suppose to be encased and out of plain view when left in a vehicle unattended.

I agree with Stubblejumper it is all our obligation to know the laws and rights that go along with owning and possessing a firearm.

seadog....never heard of the strict rules you are talking about, where did you get that info? it could be just for your province but ours is as per stubblejumpers description. Check it out...you may not be doing anything wrong at all.

JD: you may be right, but I don' t want to take any chances and be charged with anything! If I can' t hunt you might as well take me behind the barn and put a .22 round into the back of my head.

As I mentioned earlier our best defence is knowing the law.The worst thing that is happening is that people that don' t know the laws are panicking others by spreading falsehoods.

Seadog: I feel the exact way about hunting as you. My life seems to revolve around it, months of preparations, money mostly gets spent on hunting stuff, etc. That' s why I make a conscious effort to study the rules & regulations every year before and during the huting season. I feel so much more confident in defending myself if I know exactly what I can and can' t do while shooting. Heck, I still drive with my guns on my gunrack in my truck! Ya, a lot of people don' t like it, but it' s my right and privledge and I' m gonna take advantage of it. A couple years ago, I was driving home with 3 deer in the back of my truck. I had to keep the tailgate down because of all the deer & gear in the back (it' s a reg. cab). I had so many bad looks as soon as I got into the city, but I just laughed and enjoyed my trip home with my deer. Well, right after I finished hanging them all, I had a fish & wildlife officer pull up and check me out. He said someone reported me having untaged deer. I laughed and told him to look at everything. After he checked he was pleased with everything I did. I told him to let the person know who reported me, to know what they are talking about before spouting off lies. He was on my side. It certainly sucks sometimes, but as long as I' m doing everything by the book, the naysayers can kiss my A$$. JDinAB

Does anyone else get the impression that the posters from the western provinces seem to be more informed about the canadian gun laws?This seems to be the case on other forums as well for some reason.

I don' t want to get into a east/west thing with the few posters we have on these boards....let' s just say some people are more informed and can help any of the ones who aren' t. I' m sure there' s some guy in Sudbury or something who can teach me a thing or two.

Public attitude has really changed in regards to firearms over the past 40 years. Back then, you thought nothing about a gun next to the back door for varmints. You' d buy a gun at the local department store and walk home with it. Now there' s a paranoia about letting anyone in public see that you have a firearm. It' s easy, with that type of prejudice to believe that a firearm must be cased.

I wouldn' t have known either if the instructor at my last FAC hadn' t given the example of a person being charged for having a rifle unlocked, unloaded and uncased in the trunk of his car when police checked him during a RIDE check. He had to use his FAC manual to prove he wasn' t improperly transporting firearms.

Dan O.

The letter of the law isn' t the same as the spirit of the law and thats where we make our mistakes, or get the blame. For me to put my gun out of view (encased) i use a gun sock and without using much imagination you know theres a gun in there. Any gun case can be sitting on the back seat of your car in plain view and its ok because the gun isn' t in view, but am sure the spirit of the law was meant for the gun to be in the trunk. It scares me to no end that our law makers have no details about the item it is they are making laws for. Guy who taught our PAL course was telling us of a guy who was out shooting/hunting and the gun jammed with a shell inside the chamber. He couldn' t get the shell out no way no how so took every precaution he could including putting a trigger lock on, encased the gun and locked it in his trunk. He heading out to the gunsmiths without stopping off anywhere else until he got pulled over by the police. He told the officer that he had a gun in the trunk and gave all the details about how it was broke with a shell in it and where he was heading. The officer charged him with careless storage of a firearm. It went to court of course and was thrown out as the gun owner did everything in his power to disable the gun including telling the officer. The cop got a strip rippied off him that day by the judge and deserved every bit of it. Letter of the law the gun owner was wrong, the spirit of the law the officer was wrong.

In the case that dobber just told us about, the legal law abiding gun owner went the extra 10yds. to insure that all was well and legal. Well it cost him a days pay and no doubt lawyers fees as well as stress to himself on how it would be judged in court. If it was me I would be going after who ever to try to recoop my expenses and you know what would happen after that ,you would be hounded day and night by law enforcement as a trouble maker that needs to be grabbed on something .