Flera döda i moskéskjutning i Kanada

Gun legislation in Canada is largely about registration. Handgun registration became law in 1934, and automatic firearms were added in 1951. In 1969, laws classified firearms as "non-restricted", "restricted" and "prohibited". Since 1977, individuals who wish to acquire firearms legally are required to pass a criminal background check. From 1995 on, all firearms were required to be registered, but in April 2012 the requirement to register non-restricted firearms was dropped in every province and territory, except for Quebec. In 2015, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled against Quebec, thus the non-restricted registry records were destroyed in their entirety. From the 1990s up until September 12, 2005, there were two kinds of individual licences for firearms owners: possession-only and possession-and-acquisition. On September 2, 2015, all possession-only licences were automatically converted to possession-and-acquisition.