Decommissioning a firearm

[Kristopher10]

Does anyone have experience with or familiar with laws or regulations involving decommissioning a firearm?

I have an idea for a project in mind that would from time to time have a firearm visible to the general public (in a public place but still inaccessible). If I proceed with this project the firearm will be decommissioned and will never be able to be loaded/fired again. It will essentially be a show piece.

If anyone's done something like this I'd like to hear about your experiences and challenges you ran into. Thanks.

[CNP]

Deactivating (not decommissioning) is the terminology. The challenge depends on the type of action and it is the action that must be "permanently" modified so as to prevent reactivation.

[sillyak]

I looked into it for a firearm that had sentimental value to a relative without a license. Too much of a headache. The RCMP has a document saying what has to be done, but apparently it has to be done by a certain list of approved gunsmiths, of which there aren't many. Too much time and money unless you really want it.

[Redneck 7]

Originally Posted by sillyak

I looked into it for a firearm that had sentimental value to a relative without a license. Too much of a headache. The RCMP has a document saying what has to be done, but apparently it has to be done by a certain list of approved gunsmiths, of which there aren't many. Too much time and money unless you really want it.

I thought you just had to remove the firing pin more or less if you wanted to display a firearm? Didn’t know there was a process involved with the rcmp.

[Sledin]

Originally Posted by Redneck 7

I thought you just had to remove the firing pin more or less if you wanted to display a firearm? Didn’t know there was a process involved with the rcmp.

A firing pin is too easy to replace.
I would think the chamber being welded closed would be harder to reverse.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[ghostguy6]

I believe you have to permanently prevent the action from cycling and obstruct the barrel. When I inquired about doing so I was told I would have to weld the bolt to the action preventing the bolt hand from being lifted and I would have to weld a steel plug into the barrel. They also told me I would have to weld to an ASTM spec of a certain depth and bead size to prevent someone from grinding the welds out. Then I would have to have the firearm verified by a qualified gunsmith who then in turn would have to submit the paperwork to the CFO. Anyways I decided to abandon the project as it was too much of a hassle for an old Cooey .22

Granted this was when the registry still applied to non restricted firearms. Not sure if the process is the same now.

[JamesB]

The RCMP standards must be followed if you want to remove a restricted or prohibited firearm from the registry. If you want to deactivate a non restricted firearm, you could follow the RCMP guidelines if you want to be super safe, but quite honestly they are over kill, and were not required for decades before they were last amended.
A non restricted firearms needs to be rendered inoperable to be displayed. So you could remove a firing pin. Since you plan on never firing it again, I would recommend following at least some of the RCMP guidelines and drilling a blind hole in the barrel (chamber) and welding a hardened pin in it. This will keep the firearms from ever being loaded, and is permanent. There is really no need to weld the bolt into the receiver, or weld the trigger mechanism solid in my opinion.
Of course since you have not specified the type of firearm we are discussing this is academic.

[Kristopher10]

Thanks for the replies. I saw the RCMP info regarding removing a firearm from the registry. The firearm I would be deactivating is a lever action rifle (model 94).


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk