Repeal of Firearms Records Regulations

Summary#

The Regulations Repealing the Firearms Records Regulations (Classification) (SOR/2024-276) remove the earlier Firearms Records Regulations (Classification) (SOR/2014-198). The repeal took effect on December 16, 2024 and, according to the government, simply removes an unused record‑keeping rule that had no practical effect.

What it does#

• Repeals the Firearms Records Regulations (Classification) (the 2014 rules).
• Removes the (unused) requirements that only the Registrar of Firearms may keep or change records of classification determinations, that such records not be changed after one year, and that they not be destroyed.
• Puts the regulatory text in line with how firearm classification is actually handled now.
• Came into force on the day it was registered: December 16, 2024 (published in the Canada Gazette on January 1, 2025).

Who's affected#

• The most directly named official is the Registrar of Firearms, but the government says the Registrar never relied on these rules.
• The Royal Canadian Mounted Police and its Canadian Firearms Program, which maintain the Firearms Reference Table used for technical assessments, are the real users of classification records in practice.
• The Standing Joint Committee for the Scrutiny of Regulations had asked for this repeal.
• According to the government, individual firearms owners, businesses, and Indigenous communities will not notice any change.

Why it matters#

• This is mainly a housekeeping action: it removes a redundant regulation that government reviewers said never had practical effect.
• It does not change how firearms are classified, how the RCMP records technical assessments, or what owners must do to follow the law.
• People who track regulatory oversight or the work of parliamentary review committees may care because this responds to concerns raised about an unnecessary rule.