TheGunBlog.ca — Canadian Minister of Public Safety Ralph Goodale reiterated the federal police’s controversial opinion that Ruger 10/22 cartridge magazines for more than 10 rounds are “Prohibited,” while stopping short of saying their owners could face prison.
Goodale made the comment May 24 in answer to Petition No. 421-02388, according to the response filed July 18 with the House of Commons and obtained by TheGunBlog.ca. The question of the petition isn’t included. A copy of the response is below.
The Ruger 10/22 in .22 LR is one of the bestselling rifles in Canada, popular with plinkers, hunters and competitors of all ages for the past half-century. The U.S. manufacturer also made a pistol that used 10/22 cartridge boxes.
Canadians own about 1.2 million 10/22 mags able to contain more than 10 rounds, CBC News reported in April, citing an estimate by the Canadian Shooting Sports Association. The most common are 25-round versions, and 110-round drum mags also exist.
Controversy over the mags erupted in July 2016 after the Royal Canadian Mounted Police updated an opinion about them based on laws limiting the number of rounds allowed into magazines, depending on calibre.
The minister’s latest response echoes a separate July 2016 internal memo from the RCMP, obtained by Dennis Young. That memo says owners of the magazines “could be subject to prosecution under the Criminal Code with a penalty of up to five years imprisonment.”
The minister’s latest response doesn’t repeat that line, and advises owners to contact the federal police.
Click here for a PDF of the minister’s response (version française incluse). Below is an excerpt transcribed by TheGunBlog.ca.
Minister of Public Safety Ralph Goodale
Comment on Ruger 10/22 Magazines (24 May 2018)
Transcribed by TheGunBlog.ca
With respect to 10/22 platform magazines capable of containing more than 10 cartridges, their legal status has not changed. A notification reaffirming the prohibited status of these magazines was issued by the RCMP in 2013, and a subsequent notification to the same effect was issued in May 2016.
The maximum capacity of cartridge magazines has been the same since 1993 and is currently set out in Part 4 of the Regulations Prescribing Certain Firearms and other Weapons, Components and Parts of Weapons, Accessories, Cartridges, Magazines, Ammunition and Projectiles as Prohibited or Restricted (the Regulations). A magazine that has a capacity that exceeds the maximum-permitted capacity under the Regulations is a prohibited device.
Magazines designed or manufactured for use in semi-automatic handguns are limited to 10 cartridges of any calibre or type (centre-fire or rimfire) for which the magazine was-originally designed as per subsection 3(1)(b) of Part 4 of the Regulations. Any magazine that is designed or manufactured for use in a semi-automatic handgun. and exceeds 10 cartridges is a prohibited device, including rimfire calibre magazines.
Over the last 50 years, Ruger and third-party manufacturers have produced dozens of models of 10/22 platform rimfire rifles and handguns, all of which employ the same magazine port design, ammunition-feed system and magazines. This means that a Ruger 10/22 platform cartridge magazine is interchangeable and is designed and manufactured for use in all 10/22 rifle and semi-automatic handgun models:. AU 10/22 platform magazines designed for rifles and handguns-ere subject to the 10-cartridge limit under the Regulations because they have been designed or manufactured to be used in 10/22 platform semi-automatic handguns.
Businesses and individuals who believe they are in possession of a prohibited Ruger 10/22 magazine should contact the RCMP Canadian Firearms Program for more information.
Cartridge magazines, including the Ruger 10/22 platform cartridge magazine, are not included in the Firearms Reference Table.