The ad code is not very difficult to crack.
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IMAGE TAKEN FROM THE PRIVATE FACEBOOK GROUP SKS QUÉBEC SALE PROHIBITED
Announcement of the unregistered SKS rifle that we purchased through the private Facebook group SKS Québec sale prohibited.
The time shown in the listings corresponds to the sellers’ asking price, in hundreds of dollars (7 hours = $700). The word “uncontaminated” indicates that the weapon is not registered with the Quebec Firearms Registration Service (SIAF, commonly known as the Long Gun Registry), as required by provincial law .
The Facebook group SKS Quebec sale prohibited, created in 2016, has long been the haunt of firearms enthusiasts most resistant to the control measures imposed by Ottawa and Quebec. The group was devoted to the SKS carbine, a Russian semi-automatic weapon designed for war in the late 1940s, imported massively from military depots since the 1980s, which fires the same bullets as the infamous AK-47s. The Trudeau government attempted to ban this weapon in its latest revision of the law, but encountered strong resistance from hunting groups, who defend it as one of the most affordable on the market.
On SKS Quebec sale prohibited, rule-abiding gun owners were referred to as “Fudds” by some members, a derogatory term that refers to Elmer Fudd, the incompetent hunter unable to catch a rabbit in the Bugs cartoons Bunny.
In recent months, the group had become a small underground Marketplace for holders of firearm possession and acquisition permits (PPA). Sellers also advertised lots of ammunition, gun barrels, and even bulletproof vests. More than 180 “unrestricted” semi-automatic rifles and shotguns have been put up for sale there since spring 2023 by 85 different sellers, noted The Press. This category of weapons escapes the national freeze decreed in May 2023 by the Trudeau government, which prohibits the transfer and sale of 1,500 models of military-type weapons.
The author of these lines, holder of a PPA since 2018 (obtained as part of an investigative report on firearms), responded in mid-October to an ad for an SKS rifle.
For $600, the “uncontaminated” weapon included 280 steel-core bullets (banned at most shooting ranges because they cause ricochets and puncture equipment). It was also supplied with three high-capacity magazines (30 bullets), the capacity of which was limited to five cartridges by a rudimentary retaining device that the Minister of Public Safety, Dominic LeBlanc, recently promised to ban (see text next tab).
Several exemptions from the laws
The transaction was concluded in the workshop of a business in Rimouski. The seller never did the obligatory verification of the validity of our license by calling the Canadian Firearms Program, as required by a procedure put in place by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police in May 2022. “It is good », the seller simply said, after having very briefly looked at our license. Firearms sellers who fail to carry out this verification in order to obtain a reference number authorizing the transfer of the firearm “are liable to a maximum imprisonment of 10 years”, affirms the police force in an email. Transmitted to The Press.
Le vendeur a aussi omis de remplir l’Avis de transfert de propriété d’arme à feu exigé par le gouvernement du Québec lors de la vente ou la cession d’une arme à feu.
Le fait que l’arme ne soit pas enregistrée auprès du SIAF fait en sorte que des policiers qui interviendraient au domicile de son propriétaire n’auraient aucune idée qu’une arme à feu y est entreposée. Une telle dérogation à la Loi sur l’immatriculation des armes à feu peut valoir une amende de 500 $ à 5000 $ à la personne qui se trouve ainsi illégalement en sa possession, en plus d’un risque de saisie.
PHOTO FRANÇOIS ROY, LA PRESSE
Notre journaliste a pu s’entraîner au tir sur cible dans deux champs de tir sans qu’on vérifie le numéro d’immatriculation de son arme.
Aucun des membres du personnel des deux champs de tir que nous avons par la suite visités avec l’arme, à Kahnawake et à Terrebonne, pour des séances de tir sur cible, n’a vérifié si la carabine avait un numéro d’immatriculation, une information qui doit pourtant être consignée selon le Règlement sur les registres de fréquentation des champs de tir à la cible du gouvernement québécois.
L’« attitude désinvolte » des gouvernements dénoncée
« Sans surprise, l’approche désinvolte des deux ordres gouvernementaux face à l’application de la loi sur l’immatriculation et la vérification de la validité du permis favorise ce genre de transferts privés illégaux », a dénoncé l’organisme procontrôle des armes à feu PolySeSouvient, informé de notre démarche.
« D’innombrables internautes ont ouvertement dit qu’ils n’enregistreront pas leurs armes, à la vue de tous, y compris la Sûreté du Québec. Nous avons plusieurs fois demandé au gouvernement pourquoi les policiers ne font pas enquête auprès de ces propriétaires. Il est temps que le Québec démontre qu’il est sérieux face à sa loi », a ajouté l’organisme par courriel.
Les armes immatriculées « valent moins cher »
Parmi ses 6500 membres, SKS Québec vente interdite comptait notamment Guy Morin, porte-parole de Tous contre un registre québécois des armes à feu, un groupe d’opposition aux mesures de contrôle des armes à feu. M. Morin voit dans les résultats de notre enquête une démonstration que le registre provincial des armes d’épaule « est un échec ».
« Le registre, il a été mis en place pour fermer la gueule [des opposants aux armes à feu] and to make the government look good,” maintains Mr. Morin, “but there are all kinds of twists” used to circumvent it.
PHOTO TAKEN FROM GUY MORIN’S X ACCOUNT
Guy Morin, spokesperson for All Against a Quebec Firearms Registry, during a demonstration in 2020
The truth is that weapons registered in the SIAF are worth less than those that are not. Anyone in Canada will prefer to buy a firearm that is not registered.
Guy Morin, spokesperson for All Against a Quebec Firearms Registry
Some “a little more redneck” owners » also refuse to register them for purely ideological reasons, “for fear of the government or all sorts of other conspiracy theories”, but according to him this is a minority.
Facebook’s user policy specifically prohibits the “purchase, sale, and exchange of firearms, ammunition, and explosives between individuals.” As soon as we informed Facebook of the numerous advertisements posted on SKS Quebec sale prohibited, the group was deleted “for violation [des] Community standards “. “We will continue to constantly evaluate our policies and enforcement to discourage this activity,” a Meta spokesperson said by email.
Rare checks
Informed of our numerous findings, the Quebec Ministry of Public Security assures that “we are not facing a major phenomenon. »
“We are well aware that there are people who do not want to comply with the law, just as there are people who drive vehicles that are not registered or who have forgotten to pay for their registration , but it is a minority, maintains Sophie Nantel, strategic advisor for the fight against violence linked to firearms at the Ministry. These people run the risk of having all their firearms seized and paying $5,000 per gun. »
Since the creation of the Quebec long gun registry, around 150 offenders per year are fined, she specifies.
By comparing data from the old federal long arms registry to that of the Quebec registry, our calculations suggest that up to 10,000 firearm transfers between individuals may not be recorded each year in Quebec.
Transfers between individuals of unrestricted firearms in Quebec
Old Federal Register
35,700
Average annual number of transfers according to the old federal register, between 2010 and 2014
Provincial register (SIAF)
24,500
Average annual number of transfers recorded in the provincial register (SIAF), in 2021 and 2022
Reports of infringement
150
Number of offense reports submitted each year, on average
Verifications
5850
Number of permit checks carried out by the PCAF* during transfers carried out in 2022
Sources: Ministry of Public Security, Sûreté du Québec for data from the old federal register, Royal Canadian Mounted Police
* Canadian Firearms Program
Me Francis Boucher, a criminal lawyer from Roberval who himself owns several firearms, including an SKS (“it’s the most dangerous weapon I own,” he admits), believes that violations of the rules surrounding the registry Quebec long guns very rarely lead to criminal charges in court.
I practice in a hunting country, I have often had cases of clients who were criminally accused of possessing a weapon without a license or with an expired license, but I have never seen charges for unlicensed weapons. recorded.
Me Francis Boucher, criminal lawyer from Roberval
Data from the Quebec Ministry of Public Security shows that police officers consult the long gun registry 853 times per day on average, across the province.
“As soon as a person files a complaint against a gun owner or a gun owner makes threats, the police will immediately seize their weapons. I am categorical on that,” insists Me Butcher.
“The register is a tool that is widely used, but the police, ultimately, do not check whether the weapon is actually registered there. They don’t give a damn about issuing findings,” summarizes the lawyer.
One caliber, three categories of weapons
7.62 x 39mm
PHOTO FRANÇOIS ROY, THE PRESS
Cartridges of caliber 7.62 x 39 mm
The illegal SKS we purchased is chambered to fire 7.62x39mm caliber bullets. This is the same military ammunition as that of the infamous Russian AK-47, and the CZ Bren 2 used in particular by the French gendarmerie. In Canada, these three very similar weapons fall into three different categories: prohibited weapon, restricted weapon and non-restricted weapon.
AK-47 (or Kalashnikov): prohibited firearm
PHOTO GETTY IMAGES
Like the AK-47, all automatic weapons are prohibited in Canada.
Rate of fire: automatic. Holding your finger on the trigger causes the weapon to fire a burst of projectiles until the magazine empties. All automatic weapons are prohibited in Canada. It is strictly forbidden to possess them.
CZ Bren 2 Ms (short barrel): restricted firearm
PHOTO FROM YOUTUBE
It is prohibited to use a CZ Bren 2 Ms for hunting.
Rate of fire: semi-automatic. Each time the user pulls the trigger, a bullet is fired, then a new one automatically loads into the slide. In its civilian version sold in Canada, this weapon does not fire in bursts, but the fact that its mechanism was initially designed for automatic fire, and that the length of its barrel is less than 470 mm, places it in the category of weapons with restricted authorization. It is prohibited to use such weapons for hunting; they are only used for target shooting. All pistols and revolvers are restricted weapons.
SKS: unrestricted firearm
PHOTO FRANÇOIS ROY, THE PRESS
A non-restricted firearm, the SKS must be registered in the long gun register.
Rate of fire: semi-automatic. Created in 1945 for war, the SKS was a standard weapon of the Red Army infantry until the late 1950s. As it was never designed for an automatic rate of fire, the RCMP considered equivalent to an ordinary hunting weapon. In Quebec, non-restricted weapons like the SKS must be registered in the long gun registry, but are less controlled than restricted weapons.