TheGunBlog.ca — The Royal Canadian Mounted Police’s Canadian Firearms Program, which controls private gun ownership, said it’s experiencing “significant impacts” to licensing from the COVID-19 crisis.
Highlights
- New PALs on hold
- PAL cards on hold
- PAL renewals online only, not by mail
The following is reprinted from the RCMP website with a date stamp of 25 March 2020. Check the website for updates.
Impacts on Services Due to the Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19)
Due to measures taken to prevent the spread of COVID-19, the Canadian Firearms Program is currently experiencing significant impacts to our services, like many other service providers in Canada.
- Clients may experience longer than normal wait times when calling the contact centre
- The processing of applications for a new firearm licence is on hold until further notice
- The production of firearms licence cards is on hold until further notice
- The delivery of Firearms Safety Course (s) may be postponed due to social distancing protocols
Firearm Licence Expiry
- As per the Common Sense Firearms Licensing Act, since October 2017, individuals have a six-month extension (grace) period past the expiry date printed on their firearms licence card to submit a renewal application online
- Your firearms licence card will remain valid, with limitations, during this extension (grace) period
- Individuals can check the status of their firearms licence application via Individual Web Services.
Firearm Licence Renewal
- The processing of firearms licence renewal applications submitted by mail is on hold until further notice
- We recommend submitting your application to renew your firearms licence via Individual Web Services.
- The production of firearms licence cards is on hold until further notice, however, law enforcement agencies and firearms businesses can validate your licence status online
- Individuals can check the status of their firearms licence application via Individual Web Services.
As this is an evolving situation, we will continue to provide updates on our website as required.
If you are looking for statistics on the Canadian Firearms Program, please visit the latest annual report.
[Source: RCMP Canadian Firearms Program website, Accessed 26 March 2020]
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