Well, that wasn't very pleasant.

[dreamer]

We crossed into Canada on Sunday. We were at the International Peace Garden crossing. After pulling up to the booth and showing our passports we answered a few questions about the amount of booze we had, if we had any fire arms with us (no) we were told to pull forward and stop. An agent entered the motor home and quizzed us about fire arms mainly. How many we usually traveled with, where we carried them, what caliber were they. Then he and another agent searched inside and outside the motorhome and towed vehicle for around an hour while we were told to wait outside. When they were finished (found nothing) the one agent thanked us for cooperating and we were on our way. I don't think we brought this on ourselves. I believe we were chosen at random. FYI.

[Community Alumni]

With the OP's latest post, it's time to close this.

[Tom_Barb]

SideHillSoup wrote:

Canada dosent allow hand guns,

read and learn, they do allow hand guns in Canada.
They do allow hand guns in Canada.

[Mountaineer42]

garyhaupt wrote:

Mountaineer42 wrote:

gemert wrote:

Maybe but if just one of those rounds are a self defense handgun round like a 9mm, you are going to be very very inconvenienced at best, Arrested and all your possessions including motor home confiscated at worst. Not worth it to me. I am retired LEO and I find bullets in some very out of the way places in my vehicles.

TOTAL nonsense. Put away your paranoia and check the facts.

Well, I did do some research and yes, what the poster says, can happen. But..its the American ATF, doing vehicle searches at the border, before getting to the CDN agents, NORTHBOUND that can cause the big trouble. Having ammo that is subject to an Export License.

In fact, I have been thru these, at the Peace Arch in Washington State. I had just never connected the dots.


Gary Haupt

Still, TOTAL nonsense.
#1. Obviously gemert was not referring to being stopped by US authorities, he was referring to his fear of Cdn authorities finding a single round of ammo in his camper.
#2. The references you mentioned previously are from several years ago.
#3. Check the info on the US Customs and Border Protection website, dated December 2015:
" Traveling outside of the U.S. - Temporarily taking a firearm, rifle, gun, shotgun or ammunition abroad for hunting purposes

What is the process for a traveler temporarily taking a firearm, rifle, gun, shotgun or ammunition abroad for hunting or sports-related purposes?

Current export regulations issued by the Department of State require travelers to file electronic export information (EEI) for temporary export of personally owned firearms via the Automated Export System (AES) prior to departure from the United States.

CBP is aware of issues that travelers are having with the implementation of this regulation and is working to ensure that no traveler attempting to legally take their firearm out of the country experiences significant delays or incurs additional cost.

Because of these issues, we are temporarily suspending implementation of the regulation as we work with our government partners to modify the AES system to make it more user-friendly for individual travelers. "

[dreamer]

Original poster here. I do have a concealed carry permit from Illinois. I wondered if that comes up when they enter your passport. I realize they were doing their jobs, I have no problem with that. Canada is a beautiful country and this will not keep me from visiting.

dreamer.

[garyhaupt]

Mountaineer42 wrote:

gemert wrote:

Maybe but if just one of those rounds are a self defense handgun round like a 9mm, you are going to be very very inconvenienced at best, Arrested and all your possessions including motor home confiscated at worst. Not worth it to me. I am retired LEO and I find bullets in some very out of the way places in my vehicles.

TOTAL nonsense. Put away your paranoia and check the facts.

Well, I did do some research and yes, what the poster says, can happen. But..its the American ATF, doing vehicle searches at the border, before getting to the CDN agents, NORTHBOUND that can cause the big trouble. Having ammo that is subject to an Export License.

In fact, I have been thru these, at the Peace Arch in Washington State. I had just never connected the dots.


Gary Haupt

[westernrvparkow]

khager76248 wrote:
We traveled to Canada one time. They saw we were from Texas, so they not only asked if we had any guns with us(and of course we said no). They also asked if we had any guns back in Texas. What type of question is that. I understand them not wanting guns in their country, but what business is it of theirs if we have guns back home in Texas? We had to say no, otherwise I think we would have been in for a long and unnecessary search.

So following your logic, if a 20 year old Syrian Male was crossing the Texas Border it is OK to ask him if he has any explosive devices with him, but it is out of bounds to ask if he was affiliated with ISIS in Syria because it's none of business what he does in Syria?

[EEWally]

On another return to Montana at Chief Mountain after a day trip to Waterton, the US agent asked what we bought in Canada. I told him we bought a bottle of whiskey. He said that we needed to stay 24 hours to bring it in duty free but said "OK, get outa here."

[EEWally]

Once returning to Montana at Roosville, a newbie US agent asked me to pop the hood latch of our Dodge Ram. I did and he fumbled around for the secondary safety latch. He finally had to ask me to get out and finish the opening. I felt a little sorry for him.

I really think opening the hood was to demonstrate to everyone in line that they could do that.

[Mountaineer42]

gemert wrote:

Maybe but if just one of those rounds are a self defense handgun round like a 9mm, you are going to be very very inconvenienced at best, Arrested and all your possessions including motor home confiscated at worst. Not worth it to me. I am retired LEO and I find bullets in some very out of the way places in my vehicles.

TOTAL nonsense. Put away your paranoia and check the facts.

[garyhaupt]

Further to ammo...typing in "carrying ammo into Canada" got some interesting results. One of them being that is the US ATF folks that are stopping and searching outbound vehicles and if someone has ammo without an export license, then they stand to be paying heavily.

I'm sorry...but that has me laughing...a US citizen getting busted, big time, by ATF for having ammo without an export license. It's all about taxes..money. Your own US government at work.


Gary Haupt

[2gypsies1]

Yes, we were told that they do search randomly. It's no big deal.

As to the poster saying he's taking the ferry to Alaska rather than crossing the border because of the 'horror' stories, it's definitely your loss.

Canada and the Yukon are part of the trip to Alaska and missing out on them needlessly is a shame. We went through the multiple border checks on our trip to Alaska and never had any issue. It was fast and courteous. You might hear of the 'horror' stories or ones passed down from years ago, but you never hear about the millions who have crossed with no issues.

The poster also said he's not spending his money in Canada. What country does all your purchases come from? I'd certainly rather spend in Canada. Also, Canadians spend a LOT of money in the U.S. Many spend all winter here.

[gemert]

SideHillSoup wrote:

rexlion wrote:
Whenever I get the urge to travel in Canada, I suppress it by reminding myself of the border hassles others have experienced. I am a CCW permit holder, so I would probably be flagged. Although I would never intentionally try to enter Canada with a non-permitted firearm (permits are obtainable for long guns), what if I accidentally had one stray bullet lost in the bottom of a bag or in a deep recess of the camper? Once found, I would be up the proverbial creek without a paddle. No way do I want to take the chance, when an honest mistake can cost thousands of dollars plus maybe time behind bars.

No tourist dollars for Canada from this traveler. It just seems too risky to me. Plenty to see and do in the USA anyway.

Actually you can bring up to 5000 rounds of small arms ammunition in to Canada with out a permit or declaring it.
I used to bring thousands of 22 longs into Canada for years from Spokane when my daughters were in biathlon.
So finding one bullet won't get any charges laid against you it may cause a more through inspection.
It's just like when you go through the security inspections at the airports. In the airports they are looking out for everyone's safety, well so are the boarder guards.
Each country has its own laws that everyone must abide by when a guest or resident.
Canada dosent allow hand guns, and the USA doesn't allow Kinder Surprise Candy.
Soup.

Maybe but if just one of those rounds are a self defense handgun round like a 9mm, you are going to be very very inconvenienced at best, Arrested and all your possessions including motor home confiscated at worst. Not worth it to me. I am retired LEO and I find bullets in some very out of the way places in my vehicles.

[Veebyes]

It happens. Get over it. They were simply doing their job.

A few years ago at the Calaise, ME crossing we got the full search. What triggered it? I don't know. Officer spent over a half hour in the trailer, never opening slides to gain access to any of the drawers. I think she had a nap.

This year, same crossing, less than 5 minutes & a pleansant chat with the officer in the booth later & we were on our way into Canada.

[khager76248]

We traveled to Canada one time. They saw we were from Texas, so they not only asked if we had any guns with us(and of course we said no). They also asked if we had any guns back in Texas. What type of question is that. I understand them not wanting guns in their country, but what business is it of theirs if we have guns back home in Texas? We had to say no, otherwise I think we would have been in for a long and unnecessary search.