‘Restricted’ Gun Licences Rose to 497,686 at June 30

Restricted Firearm Licences CanadaThe number of Canadian licences for handguns, AR-15 rifles and other so-called “restricted” firearms rose to 497,686 at the end of June, the RCMP said today in an e-mailed response to questions by TheGunBlog.ca.

That’s an increase of 26,163 from Dec. 31, and the highest level on record. At that rate, the number of “restricted” licence holders today exceeds the symbolic level of 500,000. (Woo-hoo!)

Canada assigns guns to three classes: non-restricted, restricted, and prohibited, with different laws, rules and licences for each type. In total, more than 2 million Canadians had licences at the end of December, as more men and women sought guns for recreation, competition, hunting and collecting.

The CBC published a related article last week.

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