Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Canada A private handgun range

Dear Canadian 24HCF folks;

I was in the process of developing a handgun range on my "farm"; a quarter section 6 hours north of where I reside. When it was done I was going to regale y'all with the process in case anyone else wished to pursue such a thing.

However on the 31st of December I discovered that the frame on my only handgun (S&W .357) was cracked. S&W appears to be willing to warrantee the revolver but under Canadian law the frame / receiver is the firearm and we are presently banned from transferring any handguns. This leaves me in a catch 22, Wolverine Supplies out of Virden Manitoba is the S&W warranty facility in Canada and they are presently engaging the Canadian government for a solution to problems like I face. Since our gun hating Liberal government and their minions are highly unlikely to have a solution anytime soon I will lay out the process to date.

Many people you will tell it can't be done, from experience to date I will say yes it can be done if one is patient, precise and persistent.

Depending upon where you live your experiences will likely vary. One thing in my favour is that Alberta recently appointed their own CFO; DR. Teri Bryant a serious handgun collector. The agents I dealt from the CFO's office were either pleasant and reasonable or outstanding and a delight to deal with.

Step 1. Contact your provincial CFO's office and get a copy of the RCMP range design document. I can email a copy if someone is interested. Too much of a PITA to link a large PDF here. Read and understand the document, I gather a lot of private range applications fail because people fail to fully read and understand the regulations.

Step 2. Plan out your range. Use one of the many GPS based APPs (ihunter etc) when you are on site to get accurate detailed coordinates and directions. Draw detailed sketches, use google earth and other tools to get on much detail as possible into your maps and plats.

Step 3. contact your county and get approval to build the range. In my case I needed a development permit from the County of Two Hills. They had very little experience with private handgun ranges and informed me that they were not putting me on the back burner but were not going to be fast. I provided far more information than they asked for; specifically maps and plats of the proposed range including distances to existing permanent and seasonal residences. This really seemed to help. It took several months to get the approval but nothing excessive. The development permit included a few restrictions such as limiting the range to family members and restricting hours of usage from noon until sunset (or perhaps 1/2 before sunset?). I also had to meet with someone from the county to discuss risk of weeds getting into cropland. The county sent letters to all of my neighbours asking if they had any concerns to come to certain meeting reviewing development permits and express their concerns. No one expressed any concerns that I know of. The application fee for the development permit was a one time $500.

Step 4. Get Insurance. Super easy. Contact the CSSA (Canadian Shooting Sports Association). Annual insurance is $250 including your annual membership to the CSSA a $45 value. Great people to deal with.

Step 5. Reread the RCMP guidelines make sure your plans meet them. Fill out your application included in the guidelines and send to your provincial CFO's office. You will include proof of insurance and the development permit or whatever documentation your county or municipality has provided you with.

Step 6. (Where I end because I no longer own a functioning handgun.) Build your range. Yes you must build the range before you have approval from the CFO. Only once the range is completed to their specifications will they approve the range. If you fail the inspection you can remediate the issues and have it reinspected.

Step 7. The CFO's office will assign a field officer to come and inspect your range.


Words of advice;
-read, comprehend and understand th RCMP document
-be polite and patient, the people you are dealing are likely unfamiliar with the process (county or municipality) or presently swamped with work (the CFO's office) Just channel your inner Dwayne / BC30Cal and all will go well.

-the agent handling your file will not be able to pre-approve anything, but they can be very helpful in providing information.


It is not an onerous process it just takes time and patience. I'm sure it becomes more difficult the closer one is to neighbours and large population centres or if you have an anti-gun CFO.

So if you have been thinking about getting a private handgun range going give it a try.

GRF;
Good afternoon my friend, I hope that other than the cracked S&W frame you had a good Christmas and New Year's and that you and your fine family are well.

Thanks for the post, that's interesting information for sure.

In days gone by when our girls were still very young I was involved in the local club's executive and did some work with the regional range inspectors when we did some additional berms. Our club is in a big box canyon with no houses immediately above it so the location is quite good naturally, but they were happy with the berms we put in.

Hopefully we're able to get a change sooner than later regarding some of these "little details" like getting firearms repaired. We're trying anyway GRF, that much we can say.

Thanks again and best to you all in 2023.

Dwayne

Hi. Just a quick note about Steps 6 and 7. This comes from CFO inspections done to a few ranges of which I have been involved.

Step 6. (Where I end because I no longer own a functioning handgun.) Build your range. Yes you must build the range before you have approval from the CFO. Only once the range is completed to their specifications will they approve the range. If you fail the inspection you can remediate the issues and have it reinspected.

Step 7. The CFO's office will assign a field officer to come and inspect your range.

Once approved, it will be inspected in the future. Periodically, the rules are amended or modified. If they are changed, keep smiling. Inspectors were not all created equal.

Congratulations.

I'm pleased I didn't have to deal with the Federal, State or County government, and inspectors, to build my ranges, Rifle , Pistol, Sporting Clay. Rio7

Good points about future inspections Steve.

Rio7 We can shoot what our government classified as non-restricted (most rifles and shotguns) on private land without all of this regulatory BS. A lot of us in Canada envy the firearms environment in the US.

GRF, CANADA, is a beautiful country with great people, hunting and fishing, it's a Shame you are ruled by Socialist, Communist Government. Rio7

I just got some old telephone poles put them in the ground got an excavator and built a berm around it easy peasy no problems and nobody to del with.