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The claim that Canada banned firearms “that only appear in video games” is a popular internet talking point, but I couldn’t find evidence supporting it in the o

The claim that Canada banned firearms “that only appear in video games” is a popular internet talking point, but I couldn’t find evidence supporting it in the official Canadian firearms ban lists. What actually happened: 1. The Government of Canada has banned more than 2,500 makes and models of assault-style firearms since May 2020. 2. The 2020 Order in Council (OIC) banned approximately 1,500 firearms by name, expanded in 2024 and 2025. These are predominantly real-world firearms – AR-15 variants, AK-47 variants, the Ruger Mini-14, various shotguns, and many specialized rifles. 3. Critics have raised legitimate concerns about the ban’s logic – some firearms that were banned were “never designed for the battlefield, and never adopted by any military in the world, nor ever used in any battlefield” – but that’s different from being fictional. 4. Some rifles were banned “that probably came into Canada in insignificant numbers; indeed, there may be none of them in-country,” like obscure variants or rimfire lookalikes. Rare or uncommon isn’t the same as fictional. Sources used: https://www.publicsafety.gc.ca/cnt/cntrng-crm/frrms/index-en.aspx https://www.publicsafety.gc.ca/cnt/cntrng-crm/frrms/index-en... https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/regulations/sor-98-462/fulltext.html https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/regulations/sor-98-462/f... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Firearms_regulation_in_Canada https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Firearms_regulation_in_Canada https://ottawafirearmsafety.ca/firearms-ban/ https://ottawafirearmsafety.ca/firearms-ban/ https://www.thefirearmblog.com/blog/more-illogical-gun-bans-for-canada-44819863 https://www.thefirearmblog.com/blog/more-illogical-gun-bans-... https://www.chroniclejournal.com/news/national/fact-file-american-social-media-posts-mislead-on-canadian-gun-laws/ https://www.chroniclejournal.com/news/national/fact-file-ame... https://rcmp.ca/en/firearms/firearms-reference-table https://rcmp.ca/en/firearms/firearms-reference-table

Pxtl 9mo ago
Thanks for this exhaustive info. Also it's worth noting that when the ban list was overreaching and included some common and venerable semi-auro WW2 rifles that were a bit too powerful or their fixed-size magazines/clips were a bit too large (eg M1 Garand), the Canadian government backed off on those.
mothballed 9mo ago
They banned a website as a gun: https://rcmp.ca/sites/default/files/dam/pfl-1229-a.pdf https://rcmp.ca/sites/default/files/dam/pfl-1229-a.pdf #144117 on page 30 -- "AR15.com" "ARFCOM" listed as a 5.56mm semi-auto rifle. That's a website. There is no such firearm, and arf15.com an American run organization does not hold a manufacturer FFL. Arfcom is a common short name for the message board.
- comrh 9mo ago
  > The company that owned the website also manufactured AR-15 rifles... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AR15.com https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AR15.com They use to manufacture. Not much of a gotcha

Pxtl 9mo ago

Thanks for this exhaustive info. Also it's worth noting that when the ban list was overreaching and included some common and venerable semi-auro WW2 rifles that were a bit too powerful or their fixed-size magazines/clips were a bit too large (eg M1 Garand), the Canadian government backed off on those.

mothballed 9mo ago

They banned a website as a gun: https://rcmp.ca/sites/default/files/dam/pfl-1229-a.pdf https://rcmp.ca/sites/default/files/dam/pfl-1229-a.pdf #144117 on page 30 -- "AR15.com" "ARFCOM" listed as a 5.56mm semi-auto rifle. That's a website. There is no such firearm, and arf15.com an American run organization does not hold a manufacturer FFL. Arfcom is a common short name for the message board.

comrh 9mo ago
> The company that owned the website also manufactured AR-15 rifles... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AR15.com https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AR15.com They use to manufacture. Not much of a gotcha