Is anyone still waiting on their 22LR Handgun Transfer Approval? It seems like the RCMP Firearms Centre CFO is either not processing them or taking a very long time to do so especially for US imports. Anyone else still waiting from a month ago?
Adler Arms RF224 Tactical "The Canadian Tickler".
Kral Arms KR22 Tactical. Did I put the red dot in the right place?
Kral Arms KR22 Tactical. Did I put the red dot in the right place?
The ability to transfer (and therefore purchase, inherit) Handguns was suspended in Bill C-21. Many of us are concerned about the survival of our sport.
Within that legislation is the following clause:
Exception — handguns
97.1 Sections 12.2 and 19.1 do not apply in respect of an individual who:
a) holds an authorization to carry in respect of a handgun; or
b) meets the prescribed criteria and provides a letter to a chief firearms officer from a provincial or national sport shooting governing body indicating:
(i) that they are training, competing or coaching in a handgun shooting discipline that is on the programme of the International Olympic Committee or the International Paralympic Committee,
(ii) the disciplines in which they train, compete or coach, and
c) that the handgun in question is necessary for training, competing or coaching in those disciplines.
BC Target Sports Association is that Provincial sport shooting governing body in BC. The SFC is the National Sports Organization.
What this means, is that if you are training, competing, or coaching in an Olympic or Paralympic discipline using Handguns, BCTSA can provide an exemption allowing you to purchase appropriate handguns. Generally, this means .22 caliber pistols. You are not expected to be proficient or competitive, just actively training in the sport. We offer this to all BCTSA members, including the members of Affiliated Clubs.
Over the summer of 2023, we met with the Chief Firearms Officer for BC and worked out a process for this exemption.
In order to request an exemption letter, I ask that you:
I will then generate the exemption request from there. The process may take a bit of time, depending on the details, but should, generally, be within a couple of weeks.
Acceptable Firearms are generally .22 calibre. Entry level handguns are acceptable, as are the more expensive, competition quality handguns.
NOTE: Before you apply for a Transfer Exemption, you should locate a Handgun to purchase. Many stores no longer carry or order Handguns, so please do your shopping before you ask to transfer a Handgun you can't find to purchase. BC is not Texas. The availability of Handguns here is an issue, especially with this being one of the few avenues left for purchasing one.
Also, to be eligible, you need to EITHER: Train, Compete or Coach. Only one is necessary. More is better, but only one is necessary (section i, above). This is about being actively engaged, so I will need you to justify that which one you apply under.
Do not send me a shopping list of what you MIGHT like to transfer if you can find one, only what you have found and will transfer. Shopping lists will be denied. I won't tell the CFO you are requesting to buy 4 Handguns, when it's really only 1 of 4. No shopping lists please. Do your homework.
This exemption is for Olympic and Paralympic shooting. It is NOT a workaround of the law. I am going to be enforcing some new, arbitrary rules:
20k >130k > 16k > 150K > 16k on IREN and IRE, 2k left over after 14k tax penalties (Canada is a scam). Made some then roundtripped again, then made some back then roundtripped again with IRE 2x ETF losses and WTI oil 2x ETF losses. Lost 90% on IREN TWICE. TWICE was at 130k+ (Dec 2024 and Nov 6, 2025) and back to less than 20k by July 2025 and 2026. Both times IREN peaked in November 2025 and December 2024 and it crashed in April. I made some back trading oil 2x ETF last few months April to June and then YOLOd on a 2x oil ETF in June and got crushed 50% holding leveraged long oil last few weeks and sold the exact bottom at 69 oil in July (first lost on a short as oil spiked then lost on a long as oil crashed). Then bought the top again in memory stocks DRAM two weeks ago. Should have put it all 150k (peak account value in November) on Sandisk or Micron or MUU...had I rotated back in November would be a millionaire now. Instead have to tell my wife I blew all the house downpayment money. No lambo for me. Not even a used Porsche!
I initially started with 20k on CORZQ at 1 in 2023 which I traded to 60k by the time CORZZ (warrants) went from 1 to around 3 in April 2024. I sold the bottom on CORZZ in April 2024 in the 2s before CORZZ became CORZ and went to 20+ later in 2024. I lost half with AMC and switched to IREN in fall 2024 with 30k left, reaching 120-130k by December 2024 day trading IREN.
As I lost more I revenge traded back adding more cash at bottoms like IREN, AMC, HODL, IRE 2x ETF, HOU oil 2x ETF etc, contributing about 75k total and having 15k left after 3 years of stressful trading. My hair is all white now. My wife now gives me a small allowance of play money and all I have left is the 15k now (2k after tax penalties).
I wake up every day embarrassed with how much I lost and what could have been. I just hold DRAM now at a loss from two weeks ago but if anyone has any ideas for a 10x comeback trade let me know. I may switch to LEAPS if DRAM drops more or get IREN call LEAPS again if it goes under 30 by August like last year. Or try to short oil again if it spikes near 100 (this was the correct trade just didn't hold long enough). Or maybe wait for that new capacitor ETF (Roundhill MLCC & PCB ETF — CIRQ) and get LEAPS there.
Some lessons learned: Always rotate after something does a 5x or 10x etc. Look for momentum themes like memory hardware shortage versus seasonal AI BTC miner stocks that hype cycle (It seems April is always the lows on tech). BTC miners peak in November to December. Use a stop loss like let's say 20 or 30% loss, that was the mistake I made with IRE. I could have exited at 60k left in January bought back the lows in April on IREN call options (which was the original plan to buy the lows in April) and then did a 5x on 60k on call options to make it all back by June (IREN cycled from 70 to 30 several times). In 2025 I sold in January recovered 60k but instead of getting IREN back at the April lows when it was 5 with call options for a literal 100x by year end I bought AMC and some crypto Solana treasury company HODL and was down another 90% by summer down to 16k. Then made it back with IREN call options by November back to 130k on that move on IREN from 25 to 80. IREN peaked November 6 after hours at 80. I sold all my call options then and got the IRE 2x ETF at the peak which crashed 90% since by the time I sold in April. The reason I got the ETF was because all the social media analysts and Youtubers were saying there would be a parabolic Santa rally into December and IREN would be 120-150. IREN cratered to 30 by December from the November 80 high. I sold IRE in April. For oil was doing well April to June getting back to over 30k but then went all in long 2x right before the MOU announcement and oil crashed from 100 to 60s leading to another 50% loss. I actually hard a big short on oil that I closed at a loss when oil was low mid 90s right before the MOU announcement and then went all in long with everything before that weekend, then the MOU rugpull happened and in a few weeks oil was in the 60s. Now it is back up to near 90 apparently so might have been close to back to even but I had already sold the bottom in oil at 69 (the literal bottom) so now down another 50% and bought the top in DRAM ETF in June. Probably would had 30k left if I had done nothing with oil since oil pumped back up. And a lot more had I kept my original short from 90+.
If I can say one takeaway: Don't touch 2x ETFs. Just don't do it. 2x and 3x ETFs are the devil's juice. Just ask the MSTR 2x, or SPCX 2x, or Silver 2x bros how that worked out. Even if it bounces back the volatility decay means you will still be down 90%. IREN went from 80 to 30, to 60 to 30, to 70 and the ETF went from basically 120 to 30 in 6 months while IREN was only slightly lower. Always use a stop loss like 20-30%. You can make back a 30% drop once you realize the mistake but once you're down 50-90% it's going to be impossible to make it back without a 10x. I went on vacation in November shopping for Porsches, and when I came back a month later IREN went from 80 to 30 and I was looking for a discount coupon for an oil change on a used car at a second hand shop because I couldn't even afford Mr. Lube. I was waiting for a parabolic top on IREN to 120+ by December and 150+ by January. All the Youtube and Twitter analysts were saying it would be 200+ by spring. It was 30 within weeks of 80 and the IRE ETF collapsed 90%. I was too late and too slow to rotate to silver and memory stocks. My plan was to diversity and cash out in December during the blow off top to 100+ IREN. It was 30 by then and I was down 90%.
The Regret: Every morning I think of this, technically the absolute peak was 150k in November 2025 since I had two accounts. The peak in December 2024 was around 130k. I withdrew maybe 20k of that and yes 15k is left. The all time peak was in November 6 2025 around 150k over 2 accounts. Had I rotated to anything else memory like Sandisk or Micron MUU back in November or Silver 2x ETF it would have been 2 million by now. Imagine that 150k in Sandisk at 80 instead of IREN at 80. IREN is now 30 and Sandisk reached 2000+. Now imagine that 150k peak in Sandisk call options LEAPS on that run from 80 to 2000+. This is what I think about every morning when I wake up and every night when I go to bed. I was preparing for an ALL IN blowoff top by spring which happened except it wasn't IREN. I picked the wrong horse due to watching some Youtubers and social media Twitter "analysts" who kept talking about a pending hyperscaler deal and drawing imaginary charts to 100+ IREN. It did happen for others like HUT, Micron, Sandisk, Nebius etc. IREN was a dog and others like Nebius went to the moon since. Even HUT, and all memory stocks went to the moon. Now I go to the bookstore to look at magazines and picture books on Porsches, Lambos and Ferraris, but don't even buy the books. Sometimes I buy books from Amazon and return them.
I updated more details to my post. I feel like a defeated down dog on the balcony of the rental condo that I can barely afford watching the Porsches, Lambos, and Ferraris go by and thinking that could have been me if only I hadn't picked the wrong ETF, IRE versus MUU or just gotten any of the memory stocks like Sandisk for that 10-20x moonshot. Literally everything else went up EXCEPT IREN. I should have rotated or diversified as soon as IREN hit my 70+ target.
Taxes: Forgot the best part, ended up paying like 14k in taxes for so called higher income (double taxed on RRSP withdrawal on 30k), RRSP over contributions and retroactive interest penalties for 2 years with no tax benefit whatsoever even though I lost a ton so if you subtract that it's more like 1-2k left over. The losses are all in a TFSA now so no tax break there either. Don't invest folks, only insiders and hedge funds win and the government takes most of it in the end. And if you're in Canada don't take part in the RRSP scam because the government will take most of it in the end.
Next steps: Having said that if IREN drops back under 30 will probably spend that last 15k or so in LEAPS options for another run to 70 by year end. My original plan was to sell IREN in December and buy back at the April lows but it cratered too fast before I could exit. The same 30 to 80 trade with LEAPS can still be done which is how I turned 20k into 130k last year on a move from 25 to 70+. My other plan is to wait for the Roundhill MLCC & PCB ETF — CIRQ and get LEAPS on that as I think that will be the next AI bottleneck after memory. Right now just holding the DRAM memory ETF as of two weeks ago and will try to at least not lose any more money.
IREN Analysis: The trade was IREN 25 to 70 which is a 5-6x on LEAPS. That's how I did it last year 20k to 130k. That was my plan for April which already happened 30 to 70 AGAIN but I was too slow to exit last year so didn't do it in April. Same mistake as 2025 didn't buy the low in April at 5. The oil surge and memory surge situation threw me off this year so didn't follow my own plan. I could have easily turned that 30k into 150k from April to June if only I had bought back the April bottom in IREN. The same bottom happening again like last year and like April except this time lost capital on the oil trade. A 5x on 15k is entirely realistic by December if IREN drops enough under 30. To get to 100k would require either a bigger short term drop on IREN or more capital. Or a higher surge into year end to 100 from 25. That would make the LEAPS do an 8x on 15k. I had a good plan but did not follow it. In 2025 I cashed out 60k in January 50% down from 120k then IREN went from 15 to 5 in April, and to 80 by November. I held 120k worth of LEAPS 15 strike for Jan 2026. I could have cashed out 60k this January as well and done a 5x on the LEAPS from April to June as IREN went from 30 to 70 which was my plan but did not execute and waited too long to exit. Exited in April and did not get back into IREN instead trading oil until June. The IREN plan was solid just didn't exit on time and failed to re-enter as planned. A re-entry in the 2025 April low would have resulted in a 100x gain by November on 60k on the call options as IREN went from 3 to 80. This year I partially waited to see if IREN would get back to those 20s range like in 2025 as I would trade LEAPS at a big discount with crushed IV. There's a good chance IREN falls to 20s in August. That would be a 5-10x LEAPS trade on a return to 70+ IREN from the 20 level. In April 2025 it was 5 and then went to 80 in November and I had 120k worth of call options from 10 so you can imagine the gains had I held or better yet had I bought back at 3-5 with the 60k. IREN swings now from 30 to 70 every few months but the IV is much higher.
LOSER: The reason I failed was lack of discipline in following the trading plan and lack of a stop loss when the crash happened last November prematurely. My plan to short oil also failed because I didn't hold the position I had and didn't follow the plan. Always follow your trading plan! Oh and back in 2024 I had 60k worth of CORZZ at 2 in April and I said I would hold until December aiming for 10 but didn't...CORZ went to 10+ by summer, then 20+ later that year, and instead I was down 50% on an AMC trade by the summer. But that's a story for another day! I revenge traded both CORZ and IREN with call options to 130k that fall of 2024 by December. Then in 2025 the same mistake, got some pump and dump HODL Solana treasury company and by summer was down back to 16k and the cycle repeated once again with IREN to 150k by November...and then with IRE and oil right back down to 16k by July AGAIN! And here we are...now got hit with 15k in tax penalties on top so only 1-2 k left. Oh and lost some money on treasury companies like BNMR, SBET, Sol Strategies HODL and some others which destroyed my capital back in early to mid 2025 so remember crypto treasury companies and BTC miners always dilute and pump and dump on hype so stay away except for a quick trade of a few months at most if you get lucky and are able to time it perfectly (MSTR and IREN being the best examples).
Second Gun, Second Day, Mauser 1911 Just Arrived! Never fired a gun in my life yet so can't comment much except that It's heavier than I thought, all metal, 5 inch barrel, and even the magazines are all metal. Doesn't look like there's any rail for a light or slide cut for a red dot. It's made by GSG in Germany so the same one as the Sig Sauer 1911-22 variants. Not much else to say other than always wanted a classic 1911 that is cost effective to shoot and light on recoil. I think it's ironic that all GSG 22LR rifles have been prohibited but all 1911 GSG pistol variants are ok.
My Second Gun, Second Day, Mauser 1911 Just Arrived (Canada). Never fired a gun in my life so can't comment much except that It's heavier than I thought, long at 5 inches, and even the magazines are all metal. Doesn't look like there's any rail for a light or slide for a red dot. It's made by GSG so the same one as the Sig Sauer 1911-22 variants. Not much else to say other than always wanted a classic 1911 that is cost effective to shoot and light on recoil.
My First Gun FN 502 Tactical (Canada). I think I used the wrong screws but the ones that came with the red dot were too short and the only ones that relatively fit were the red coloured ones that came with the FN 502 and polymer slide adaptor. Only one of the adaptors fit and only one of the screws somewhat fit and tried them all.
My First Gun, FN 502 Tactical. Never shot a firearm in my life, but this is my first gun for training purposes, just imported from the USA (Arizona) via IRG. The extended magazines are pinned to 10. It came very oily so had to wipe it thoroughly with paper towels. The enclosed reflex micro red dot (probably used the wrong screws) and tactical light are add-ons from Amazon. I got my RPAL just for this.
My First Gun FN 502 Tactical. Never shot a firearm in my life, but this is my first gun for training purposes, just imported from the USA (Arizona) via IRG. Magazines are pinned to 10. It came very oily so had to wipe it thoroughly with paper towels. The enclosed reflex micro red dot (probably used the wrong screws) and tactical light are add-ons from Amazon.
Explanation Guide for 22LR pistol exemption process in Canada using BC as an example. This guide explains how you can still legally purchase and import a handgun from the USA into Canada, covering everything from joining the BCTSA to submitting your paperwork. We break down exactly how the system works, emphasizing that this exemption applies strictly to .22LR pistols with a minimum barrel length of 4.17 inches (106mm).
HOW TO GET A 22LR HANDGUN EXEMPTION IN BC (AB has a similar process)
1. PREREQUISITES
Obtain your RPAL (Restricted Possession and Acquisition Licence) and an active BCTSA (British Columbia Target Sports Association) Membership.
2. COMPLETE C-21 EXEMPTION FORM and submit to BCTSA
Fill out the designated C-21 22LR exemption form and submit it via email. Wait 1-2 weeks to receive your official Exemption Letter. This is make and model specific for each letter.
Alberta has a similar process with exemption letters that are open ended for multiple makes and models.
3. CHOOSE & PURCHASE FIREARM
Select a handgun to purchase from a Canadian or US retailer. Send your Exemption Letter to the retailer/importer (required by Global Affairs Canada and CBSA for the handgun import permit paperwork and transfer). If importing, the importer will do the paperwork, shipping and clearance for you.
Requirements:
4. FINAL RCMP SUBMISSION (AT REQUEST)
Send your Exemption Letter via email when specifically requested by the RCMP Firearms Centre on behalf of the Chief Firearms Officer (CFO) (Miramichi, NB).
5. RECEIVE APPROVAL & REGISTRATION
Receive your transfer approval and registration certificates via email from the RCMP.
6. RECEIVE DOCUMENTS
Receive your physical registration certificates via mail from the RCMP.
7. RECEIVE HANDGUN VIA MAIL
Receive your .22LR handgun(s) via mail.
Requirements Checklist
To qualify, your application must reflect the following criteria:
The BC Target Sports Association is that Provincial sport shooting governing body in BC. The SFC is the National Sports Organization.
What this means, is that if you are training, competing, or coaching in an Olympic or Paralympic discipline using Handguns, BCTSA can provide an exemption allowing you to purchase appropriate handguns. Generally, this means .22 caliber pistols. You are not expected to be proficient or competitive, just wishing to train in the sport. BTCTSA offers this to all BCTSA members, including the members of Affiliated Clubs. BCTSA met with the Chief Firearms Officer for BC and worked out a process for this exemption. Acceptable Firearms are generally .22 calibre. Entry level handguns are acceptable, as are the more expensive, competition quality handguns.
Before you apply for a Transfer Exemption, you should locate a Handgun to purchase. Many stores no longer carry or order Handguns, so please do your shopping before you ask to transfer a Handgun you can't find to purchase. BC is not Texas. The availability of Handguns here is an issue, especially with this being one of the few avenues left for purchasing one.
To be eligible, you need to EITHER: Train, Compete or Coach. Only one is necessary. More is better, but only one is necessary. This is about intent, so if you are training to compete in the sport, please check off Training and Competing, as that is the intended purpose of the Handgun transfer. Do not send a shopping list of what you MIGHT like to transfer if you can find one, only what you have found and will transfer. Shopping lists will be denied.
Disciplines
Eligible 22LR Handguns (Example Brands)
Note: Under this exemption, firearms must be for .22LR caliber only and Minimum 4.17-inch (106mm) barrel length.
US Import Note: Handguns can be purchased from the IRUNGUNS US store in Arizona. They are then imported to their Canadian warehouse in Alberta and shipped directly to the customer. IRUNGUNS handles all the necessary cross-border import paperwork on your behalf. There are also other combinations possible such as from an auction to the importer. Any extended magazines are clipped to 10.
EXAMPLES -- Basically any handgun you can find in the USA that is 22LR and classified Restricted with a Minimum 4.17-inch (106mm) barrel length: