This CSSA essay explains the progression of firearms legislation from 1867 to 1945. In brief, all legislation has been the result of the news events of the day, and the government's reactions to them.
The whole article is linked below. It is a compelling read.
WRT handgun bans for hunting in Canada, the provinces and territories make their own rules for what, where and when you can hunt, however...firearms legislation is the responsibility of the federal government, so any changes, additions or deletions to the Firearms Act made by them affects the provinces.
Excerpt from A Brief History of Gun Control in Canada, 1867 to 1945Originally published by CSSA - December 27, 2014
- Al Smithies, Research Director, CILA
National Handgun Registration -1934National handgun registration is born in the context of the social and political upheavals of the Great Depression. It is passed on 3 July 1934, having been rushed through Parliament in only ten days. The law appears motivated by a fear of insurrection after Tim Buck, the popular leader of Canada’s Communist Party, is released from prison in June 1934 and appears to the applause of tens of thousands at political rallies held in Montreal and Toronto.
The federal government places handgun registration under authority of the RCMP. This is done, not because the Mounties are more efficient than local police forces at processing applications (provincial and municipal police services had been registering handguns under authority of the 1913 legislation), but because the RCMP is, according to Lorne and Caroline Brown’s
An Unauthorized History of the RCMP, the federal government’s first line of defence against internal disorder and is considered
“. . . the most reliable force in the country for breaking strikes, smashing the radical trade unions, controlling the unemployed and hounding political dissenters.”----
https://cssa-cila.org/a-brief-history-of-gun-control-in-canada-1867-to-1945/