Where can I legally discharge my firearms?

[Applecart]

I know that there are many gun clubs where I can fire pistol rounds, but I don't like the fact that I have to become a member and pay close to $300 in annual fee. I am not interested in hunting at this moment and I just want to find a place for target shooting near my home in Toronto. Since people hunt with their rifles all the time, I am sure that such places do exist.

[Peckerwood]

It depends on the Province and Territory you are in, but in most circumstances, anywhere on Crown Land is legal.

Of course this is only for non-restricted firearms. Unless you have a Class 1 or Class 2 ATC then you won't be able to take your restricteds to the bush or to discharge them outside of a qualified gun range

You also may have local ordnances that require no discharging of firearms within a certain distance of private property...a mile or two at times is common.

Check with the RCMP or your Provincial Police and ask them what is appropriate.

And as always...clean up after yourself. Just like any party...pick up your empties.

[pupazzo]

Join a club.

[appleb]

If you're not interested in hunting but target practice, you could buy a non-PAL rated pellet gun and just shoot in your basement.

[Applecart]

It depends on the Province and Territory you are in, but in most circumstances, anywhere on Crown Land is legal.

Of course this is only for non-restricted firearms. Unless you have a Class 1 or Class 2 ATC then you won't be able to take your restricteds to the bush or to discharge them outside of a qualified gun range

You also may have local ordnances that require no discharging of firearms within a certain distance of private property...a mile or two at times is common.

Check with the RCMP or your Provincial Police and ask them what is appropriate.

And as always...clean up after yourself. Just like any party...pick up your empties.

Thank you

I guess the bad thing about living in Toronto is that you would have to drive at least two hours to find a piece of crown land that is not directly adjacent to major highway or populous town center.

[Applecart]

If you're not interested in hunting but target practice, you could buy a non-PAL rated pellet gun and just shoot in your basement.

I want to be able to shoot a target that is up to 500 yards away with my .3030 lever action.

[i6s1]

I want to be able to shoot a target that is up to 500 yards away with my .3030 lever action.

Ha. Let us know how that goes. Hopefully your target is at least 10 feet wide.

[nagasadow]

BRAMPTON or Mill Woods

[BornRuff]

Thank you

I guess the bad thing about living in Toronto is that you would have to drive at least two hours to find a piece of crown land that is not directly adjacent to major highway or populous town center.

Did you really think that you would be able to legally shoot guns in a populated area?

If you live in Toronto, your best bet is going to be joining a club. The expense of membership would be heavily outweighed by the expense of you voyaging to find crown land that fits this bill.

[mysticalinfluence]

I want to be able to shoot a target that is up to 500 yards away with my .3030 lever action.

Considering the design of 30 30 lever action was ment for ranges around 50 yards this rather pointless and you need invest in better rifle. The range is unrealistic for the caliber even if it is possible you won't able to do it accurately.

[Applecart]

Did you really think that you would be able to legally shoot guns in a populated area?

If you live in Toronto, your best bet is going to be joining a club. The expense of membership would be heavily outweighed by the expense of you voyaging to find crown land that fits this bill.

I have just found out that a small section of Stouffville, which is about 40 minutes away from Toronto by driving, allows legal discharging of firearms. However, I agree with you because the region is mostly private farm land and I may be sued by some farmer if I target shoot for hours near his land.

[162]

I want to be able to shoot a target that is up to 500 yards away with my .3030 lever action.

You just played your gun intelligence card.

[Applecart]

Ha. Let us know how that goes. Hopefully your target is at least 10 feet wide.


Considering the design of 30 30 lever action was ment for ranges around 50 yards this rather pointless and you need invest in better rifle. The range is unrealistic for the caliber even if it is possible you won't able to do it accurately.

Lol I know that 500 yards is unrealistic for a .3030 lever action. I am no Richard Sharpe. I was just joking in response to one gentleman who suggested that I should practice with a pallet gun in my basement.

[brian.gerson]

Did you really think that you would be able to legally shoot guns in a populated area?

I shoot every month at a 600m range in a populated area. No incidents in over 100 years of operation.



If you live in Toronto, your best bet is going to be joining a club. The expense of membership would be heavily outweighed by the expense of you voyaging to find crown land that fits this bill.

Toronto, under David Miller, banned a lot of facilities because it didn't agree with their political views. They have practically destroyed this important heritage sport in their immediate vicinity. The logic was that if they effectively banned guns for the law-abiding, there would be no gun crime anymore. If he had served another term, there would have been a "crime ban" to accomplish a similar goal.

[Shaner]

I have just found out that a small section of Stouffville, which is about 40 minutes away from Toronto by driving, allows legal discharging of firearms. However, I agree with you because the region is mostly private farm land and I may be sued by some farmer if I target shoot for hours near his land.

You won't be sued, but chances are if you're shooting on someone else's land, the cops are going to show up and you're going to be have a bunch of cops rushing in with their guns drawn.

[UrbanPoet]

Somewhere near Toronto?
Theres no such thing. All we have in the GTA are gun clubs. No where you can legally discharge firearms outdoors. Most of the land is owned by someone.
MAybe Just MAYBE, you could do it if you are hunting...

But you'll have to drive pretty far for a decent gravel pit or somewhere safe/remote enough to shoot. You mind as well take a plane!

It gets iffy when you do it on private land or a provincial park.

[Mattones]

Go up north to crown land and fire a few rounds BUT MAKE SURE ITS CROWN LAND NOT PRIVATE!! And check the Bylaws!!!! Also be sure there is a backdrop etc. Its safer to just go to a club..

But for myself i have 200 acres and i shoot on it weekly :)

[Simaahoy]

Regent Park:arrow:

[zonetbh]

Somewhere near Toronto?
Theres no such thing. All we have in the GTA are gun clubs. No where you can legally discharge firearms outdoors. Most of the land is owned by someone.
MAybe Just MAYBE, you could do it if you are hunting...

But you'll have to drive pretty far for a decent gravel pit or somewhere safe/remote enough to shoot. You mind as well take a plane!

It gets iffy when you do it on private land or a provincial park.

There is an outdoor gravel pit / skeet shooting range in Sharon, at the end of the 404. I guess it depends on your idea of near Toronto, but in my opinion that is near Toronto. You can make it there in 20 minutes from Steeles/404.

[gh05t]

Amazing nobody said Eaton Center yet. Lol

Shooting range might be your best bet.

[BornRuff]

I shoot every month at a 600m range in a populated area. No incidents in over 100 years of operation.



Toronto, under David Miller, banned a lot of facilities because it didn't agree with their political views. They have practically destroyed this important heritage sport in their immediate vicinity. The logic was that if they effectively banned guns for the law-abiding, there would be no gun crime anymore. If he had served another term, there would have been a "crime ban" to accomplish a similar goal.

The request was specifically about doing so without going someplace like a range or club.

[appleb]

Amazing nobody said Eaton Center yet. Lol

Shooting range might be your best bet.

I'm pretty sure someone did. Maybe the post got deleted?

[brian.gerson]

The request was specifically about doing so without going someplace like a range or club.

You fail at reading comprehension. He just doesn't want to join one as a member, and you don't need to, you can typically pay by the day.

Also, the police shoot at their own range in the basement of 52 division headquarters, in the middle of the highest density population in Southern Ontario. In fact, shooting is safer than table tennis statistically. You can get $1m insurance for shooting mishaps for 1% of what you pay to insure your car.

[lovejones11]

Where in stouffville can you do this? Also any cheap clubs around stouffville/richmondhill/aurora?

Target is like $600 a year.....

[BornRuff]

You fail at reading comprehension. He just doesn't want to join one as a member, and you don't need to, you can typically pay by the day.

Also, the police shoot at their own range in the basement of 52 division headquarters, in the middle of the highest density population in Southern Ontario. In fact, shooting is safer than table tennis statistically. You can get $1m insurance for shooting mishaps for 1% of what you pay to insure your car.

Nobody is questioning if gun clubs and ranges exist in populated areas. Whatever the OP's intention was, this thread has focused on public places where you can shoot for free.

[Applecart]

Where in stouffville can you do this? Also any cheap clubs around stouffville/richmondhill/aurora?

Target is like $600 a year.....

The Whitechurch-Stouffville area allows discharging of firearms. The bad thing is that the place is mostly private farms and ranches. Unless you have your own 15 acres, it would be really risky.

[DrXenon]

Did you really think that you would be able to legally shoot guns in a populated area?


^^ That is what you said, and people are pointing out that folks shoot in populated areas every single day on this country. You need to educate yourself before you post stuff like that because it just makes you look stupid.

[BornRuff]

^^ That is what you said, and people are pointing out that folks shoot in populated areas every single day on this country. You need to educate yourself before you post stuff like that because it just makes you look stupid.

Lol, did that many people really not understand that the comment was about shooting outside of a gun club/range? That is what everyone has been discussing in this thread.

We all know gun clubs exist. They were discussed in the very first post in this thread.

The idea of finding somewhere within the GTA that you can legally shoot guns outside of a gun club is kind of wishful thinking, don't you think? Way too many people around almost anywhere you go. In populated areas, you really need a proper shooting range.

[Kami19]

The Whitechurch-Stouffville area allows discharging of firearms. The bad thing is that the place is mostly private farms and ranches. Unless you have your own 15 acres, it would be really risky.


lol go up to musselmans lake, bunch of hillbillys up there, they should be able to help you out.

[UrbanPoet]

There is an outdoor gravel pit / skeet shooting range in Sharon, at the end of the 404. I guess it depends on your idea of near Toronto, but in my opinion that is near Toronto. You can make it there in 20 minutes from Steeles/404.

Is this privately owned land or an outdoor gun club?
Are you reffering to the skeet/trap shooting done by Sharon gun club (or whatever hey call it now)?

[wilsonlam97]

Amazing nobody said Eaton Center yet. Lol

Shooting range might be your best bet.

Not funny but I laughed lol

[pricedo]

In Northern Ontario where I'm from there are thousands of acres of crown land and there's nothing legally wrong with safely discharging a non-restricted firearm for target practice but there are lots of people with cell phones just itching to "drop a dime" as soon as they hear gun shots or see a person with a gun during the spring or summer.
Used to go to the local gravel pits a lot when I was a kid just about any time a year with my .22 and spend the day out there ventilating tin cans and derelict car wrecks but things were simpler and common sense was much more prevalent in society back then.
Ontario has a very anti-gun Liberal government and a gunopobic Chief Firearms Officer who is "God" for anything having to do with guns in Ontario.
Expect the 3rd-degree and a hassle from any OPP, town cops or conservation officers that turn up at the gravel pit where you are shooting peeved off cause they had to drop their coffees & donuts at Timmies to attend a gun call.
You might even get charged with illegal hunting if the conservation officer doesn't "buy" your target practice explanation because there is a lot of poaching around here.
I don't take any guns in the bush until after August 15 when the fall black bear season opens in my area.
I have no interest in shooting a black bear but buy and carry a black bear license as an "cover over" excuse to carry a rifle in the bush.

[CompWizrd]

We stick to the .22's when target shooting, much quieter and you don't tick off the neighbours as fast as you do with a 12-gauge, or anything semi-auto.. Ammo is cheaper that way too when you're going through a box...

I need to find somewhere to sell one of my dad's guns someday, the # of people left with a prohibited license who can buy it are probably falling daily as that category has been around for a long time.

[pricedo]

We stick to the .22's when target shooting, much quieter and you don't tick off the neighbours as fast as you do with a 12-gauge, or anything semi-auto.. Ammo is cheaper that way too when you're going through a box...

I need to find somewhere to sell one of my dad's guns someday, the # of people left with a prohibited license who can buy it are probably falling daily as that category has been around for a long time.

Expect a few more firearms types to be going on the prohibited (safe queen) list after King Justins coronation in 2015.........the short barrels like the Rossi Ranch Hand, Dominion Arms Grizzly, all handguns, the milsurps, the semi auto rifles that aren't already restricted or prohibited.
I'm sure the RCMP has a big ban list already made up for when their BAN BUDDIES the Liberals get back in the drivers seat.
Actually they (the Mounties) haven't been doing too badly in the ban department with the Cons in power.
Or maybe they'll just take em without grandfathering or compensation this time around.
The long gun registry will be back like April 2011 and c-19 was only a dream.
And non-restricted PALs will be endorsed "For use by licensed hunters during an open hunting season and transport to an approved shooting range ONLY".........that's for non-restricted firearms !! If you are a farmer, trapper (fur harvester) or a prospector you'll need to apply for a "lawful occupation" endorsement to your PAL to carry a specific, suitable non-restricted firearm while actively engaged in your occupation on your own land, trap line as the case might be.
No more taking the .22 to the gravel pit or cottage for a little informal target practice or a rifle on a fishing or camping trip for bear protection in the summer.
The CFO has the power NOW to add such conditions to a firearms license for public safety reasons pursuant to the authority of FA Section 58.

58. (1) A chief firearms officer who issues a licence, an authorization to carry or an authorization to transport may attach any reasonable condition to it that the chief firearms officer considers desirable in the particular circumstances and in the interests of the safety of the holder or any other person.
The Liberals will use that United Nations Small Arms Treaty as an excuse to go on a mass law tightening, gun registering, gun grabbing mission.
Anybody who thinks the non-restricted long gun registry data was actually destroyed needs to buy a much stronger brand of coffee.
Better get out and shoot those guns while you have a chance.