US Suspends Gun Sales to Canada

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TheBluesMan

Moderator Emeritus
<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>US Administration Suspends Gun Sales to Canada
February 25, 2000 2:20 am EST

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The White House is suspending the export of ammunition, handguns and rifles to Canada, after noticing a large volume of sales in the past nine months, U.S. and Canadian officials told the New York Times.

Since the United States began requiring licenses to export weapons to Canada in April, licenses have been issued for 115,000 handguns, 25,000 rifles and 200 million rounds of ammunition, the newspaper said.

American officials said they did not know where the firearms end up and that has caused them to suspend the sales. An official told the Times that it is extremely possible that the handguns are being smuggled back to the United States.

The number of handguns licensed to be sold to Canada since April is more than to any other country and 10 times greater than the combined total of those in the United Kingdom, France and Italy in all of 1998, the newspaper said.[/quote]
Source

Hmmm...What do y'all make of this? Impending invasion from the Great White North? ;)

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RKBA!

"The people have the right to bear arms for their defense and security"
Ohio Constitution, Article I, Section 4
Concealed Carry is illegal in Ohio.
Ohioans for Concealed Carry Website
 
J

johnbt

New member
That's the first I'd heard of the W.H.'s Canadian problem... Canadians make ham? :) Try a paper-thin, see-through slice of Smithfield Ham on your next fresh crabcake or softshell sandwich! But be careful, the salty ham on your hands is not good for handgun finishes. John in Virginia.
 
H

Horny Toad

New member
When you look at the big picture, this is kinda scary. This action was not prompted just by the fears of the Clinton administration, but also by the wishes of the Canadian government. I can see it now: The United Nations identifies guns as a major cause of death among children or something similar, and urges countries with "lax" gun laws to "do something" about it. Being a good World Citizen and wanting to set an example, the U.S. incrementally bans private firearms ownership to "do it's part" for the world community. Of course it would work out in a different manner than the one I've described, but you get the picture.

Horny Toad



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--NRA Life Member--
 
F

foxfire

New member
So the Feds think that the firearms might be 'smuggled' back into the States?
Hmmm...
Makes you wonder who's being paranoid now... ;)

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...defend the 2nd., it protects us all.
No fate but what we make...
 
C

Colduglandon

New member
I think your putting the wrong spin on this one. The last I heard was that the Canadian Police are not enforcing the new gun laws that were passed in Canada. They have thousands of citizens that have not turned in their "illegal" weapons, and therefore they now are criminals. Its the Civil War/Martial Law scenario that gets knocked about here on this forum all the time. We should be supporting gun owners up north. They are one step further down the slippery slope.

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In the shadow of Bunker Hill from the People's Republic of Massachusetts
 
F

FNG

New member
This is a Clinton thing not a Canadian one. This is one more way to ruin the firearms industry.
 
D

DC

Moderator Emeritus
<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>
February 26, 2000
Canada Screening Licenses for Gun Imports From U.S.
The New York Times
By RAYMOND BONNER
WASHINGTON, Feb. 25 -- The Canadian government said today that it was
reviewing all licenses issued for the import of firearms from the United
States to be sure that they were for valid business or sporting purposes.
A senior government official said that the review was being done at the
request of the United States, which was alarmed by a huge volume of import
applications for firearms since last April. The official said the review was
being conducted on an "urgent basis."


On Wednesday, the Clinton administration suspended issuing any future
licenses for the export of firearms to Canada. The White House said today
that exports themselves had not been suspended, which means that guns can be
shipped if they were the subject of past import certificates. It is these
certificates that are under review.


The Canadian officials confirmed that new licenses had been issued for
115,000 handguns since last April. But they said today that only 1,500 of
those had so far entered Canada. Nevertheless, the Canadians said the United
States was concerned by the volume of guns that had been licensed for export
to Canada, a concern the Canadians share.


In response to a question, a Canadian official said that one license was for
89,000 handguns. He described it as "an extremely unusual application," but
he declined to name the company.


The company in question is a sporting goods store, Sportèque, in Quebec,
according to the owner, Anthony Ward. Last November, Mr. Ward said, he got an
import license to buy 44,500 9-millimeter pistols and 44,500 .40-caliber
pistols with night sights. The total contract price is $33 million. The
seller is a Georgia gun manufacturer, Glock.


Glock declined to comment.


Mr. Ward said that Sportèque was a retail store that specialized in hunting
and skiing, and that he had sought the license for so many handguns because
he was hoping to make sales to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and to
municipal police departments.


This was one of the import licenses that alarmed the Clinton administration.

Canadian officials said today that dealers often got licenses for more guns
than they might import just so they would be in a position to bid on
contracts with police forces, and to fulfill those contracts should they
prevail.


"The United States imposed this on us," a Canadian official said. That
happened, he said, when the Clinton administration last April imposed export
requirements on firearms going to Canada.


The Clinton administration imposed the stricter export controls because it
found that American military equipment shipped to Canada was then being
resold to countries such as Iraq, Iran and Libya. In recent years,
individuals have been prosecuted in the United States for selling military
equipment to Canada, which was then diverted, such as gyroscopes (to China),
helicopters (to Iraq) and armored personnel carriers (to Iraq).


It was still unclear today which country -- Canada or the United States --
was responsible for suspending the processing of Canadian import applications
for firearms.


The White House spokesman, Joe Lockhart, said the Canadian government had
expressed concern and had made a request to put the licensing process on
hold.


At the Ottawa news briefing, reporters barraged the officials with questions
about who initiated the action. Beyond saying that Canada began the review
after the United States notified it that there had been an increase in
applications, the officials avoided saying directly what had caused Canada to
send a letter to Washington on Wednesday asking for a suspension of the
licensing process.


Outside the briefing, an official said that the Clinton administration had
made clear that it intended to act even without a request from Canada, and
that Canada and the United States had mutual interests in having Canada send
the letter.


It saved Canada from having the suspension appear imposed by its big southern
neighbor. And by having it appear that Canada initiated the action, the
Clinton administration could avoid criticism by the American gun lobby.[/quote]

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"Quis custodiet ipsos custodes" RKBA!
 
J

Jeff Thomas

New member
Gresham on Gun Talk (radio show) gave an interesting explanation of this foolishness.

The exporters are required to estimate the number of firearms they will export when they apply for the license. Since they don't know, they estimate high so they don't hit a ceiling. Thus, 115K.

How many are actually exported to Canada? Per Gresham, data at the US Commerce Dept indicated around 6,500 in 1998 and 3,300 in 1999. And, most of those sidearms went to LEO's.

Gresham also questions the illogic of people exporting arms to Canada so they can 'smuggle' them back into the U.S., where they came from in the first place. Sort of a '3 Stooges' approach to the French Connection, no?

Hmmmmmm ....
 
M

Moe

New member
The headlines I get here in Canada say "10 times the number of handguns as that of Britan, France, and italy. Well no kidding they may as well said Mars, Pluto, and Neptune as there are NO CIVILIAN handgun sales in those countries. It sucks to be a Canadian and if I could figure out how to move to the U.S.A. when I retire I will be there so fast I will need a new engine to replace the one I will cook speeding to get there. Oh buy the way since we don't have a domestic ammo manufacture other than shotshells I guess I will have to ration all the .22lr .45acp 9mm and 223 I have to last a life time. This SUCKS SUCKS SUCKS.

later
Moe

note head smashing against desk over and over
 
H

Hard Ball

New member
The Canadian RCMP which is responsible for gun registration in Canada is currently spending over $1200 plus per gun registered, They would be going bankrupt except that the RCMP estimates that less than 10% of all Canadians intend to comply with the law!
 
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