Self-Defence and Firearms in Canada

Recent news stories about the use of a firearm to stop the commission of various crimes and subsequent statements from the RCMP have (again) raised the issue of armed self-defence under Canadian law.  Does that right still exist?  If so, how and when can it be exercised?

Canada has a history of decades of political fear-mongering about firearms and so it is difficult to have an intelligent, principled debate about the use of a firearm for self-defence by a citizen.  Our divide-and-conquer politicians have frequently and effectively hoisted the spectre of homicidal gun owners, assisted by “journalists” who are willing to substitute moralizing and social engineering for principled fact-finding.  We are therefore at a place where calm and rational debate about  civilian use of firearms for self-defence has become extremely difficult.  This may account for the RCMP’s denigration of that possibility and is the stimulus for this article.

After a recent incident where an Okotoks, Alberta farmer was charged as a result of shots fired during a robbery at his home by two persons at night, Sgt. Shawn French of the RCMP reportedly gave the following advice: