Non-restricted firearms: storage, display and transport
Most hunting rifles and shotguns are non-restricted, and this is the least demanding class at home: the regulation gives you three ways to comply and any one of them is enough.
A trigger lock is enough at home, and not at an airport
These are storage and handling rules under the Firearms Act. They are not airport rules. Satisfying them does not mean an airline will carry your firearm, and aviation security requires a locked hard-sided container that these rules do not.
Storing it at home
The firearm must be unloaded, and then any one of the three options in paragraph (b) satisfies the rule — a secure locking device, removing the bolt or bolt-carrier, or a securely locked container, receptacle or room. You do not need both a lock and a container, which is what restricted and prohibited firearms require.
Each rule is shown twice where both exist: the regulation’s own wording, and the RCMP’s plain-language version of it. Where they differ in detail, the regulation is the text that governs.
SOR/98-209 s.5(1) permits an individual to store a non-restricted firearm only if it is unloaded, and it is either rendered inoperable by a secure locking device, rendered inoperable by removing the bolt or bolt-carrier, or stored in a securely locked container, receptacle or room that cannot readily be broken open or into - any one of the three is enough. The firearm must also not be readily accessible to ammunition unless the ammunition is in a securely locked container, which may be the same container.
What the source says — Provision 5(1)5 (1) An individual may store a non-restricted firearm only if (a) it is unloaded; (b) it is (i) rendered inoperable by means of a secure locking device, (ii) rendered inoperable by the removal of the bolt or bolt-carrier, or (iii) stored in a container, receptacle or room that is kept securely locked and that is constructed so that it cannot readily be broken open or into; and (c) it is not readily accessible to ammunition, unless the ammunition is stored, together with or separately from the firearm, in a container or receptacle that is kept securely locked and that is constructed so that it cannot readily be broken open or into.
Source: laws-lois.justice.gc.ca Verified 1 November 2026
Official page last modified: 30 November 2012
Regulation currency: current to 2026-09-30, last amended 2012-11-30
The RCMP states a non-restricted firearm must either have a secure locking device attached (or the bolt removed) so it cannot be fired, OR be locked in a cabinet, container or room that is difficult to break into.
What the source saysAttach a secure locking device, such as a trigger lock or cable lock (or remove the bolt) so the firearms cannot be fired; or Lock the firearms in a cabinet, container or room that is difficult to break into.
Source: rcmp.ca Verified 1 November 2026
Official page last modified: 12 November 2024
SOR/98-209 s.5(2) exempts an individual from the locking/inoperability requirement in s.5(1)(b) when storing a non-restricted firearm temporarily, if they reasonably require it to control predators or other animals somewhere it may lawfully be discharged. The unloaded requirement in (1)(a) and the ammunition requirement in (1)(c) still apply.
What the source says — Provision 5(2)(2) Paragraph (1)(b) does not apply to any individual who stores a non-restricted firearm temporarily if the individual reasonably requires it for the control of predators or other animals in a place where it may be discharged in accordance with all applicable Acts of Parliament and of the legislature of a province, regulations made under such Acts, and municipal by-laws.
Source: laws-lois.justice.gc.ca Verified 1 November 2026
Official page last modified: 30 November 2012
Regulation currency: current to 2026-09-30, last amended 2012-11-30
SOR/98-209 s.5(3) exempts an individual from both the locking/inoperability requirement in s.5(1)(b) and the ammunition-accessibility requirement in s.5(1)(c) when storing a non-restricted firearm in a remote wilderness area not subject to any visible or otherwise reasonably ascertainable use incompatible with hunting. The firearm must still be unloaded.
What the source says — Provision 5(3)(3) Paragraphs (1)(b) and (c) do not apply to an individual who stores a non-restricted firearm in a location that is in a remote wilderness area that is not subject to any visible or otherwise reasonably ascertainable use incompatible with hunting.
Source: laws-lois.justice.gc.ca Verified 1 November 2026
Official page last modified: 30 November 2012
Regulation currency: current to 2026-09-30, last amended 2012-11-30
Displaying it
Display has its own section. The firearm must be unloaded, either locked inoperable or in a locked container, and kept away from ammunition that could be fired from it.
SOR/98-209 s.8 permits an individual to display a non-restricted firearm only if it is unloaded, is either rendered inoperable by a secure locking device or is in a securely locked container, receptacle or room that cannot readily be broken open or into, and is not displayed with or readily accessible to ammunition that can be discharged from it.
What the source says — Provision 88 An individual may display a non-restricted firearm only if it (a) is unloaded; (b) is rendered inoperable by means of a secure locking device or is in a container, receptacle or room that is kept securely locked and that is constructed so that it cannot readily be broken open or into; and (c) is not displayed with and is not readily accessible to ammunition that can be discharged from it.
Source: laws-lois.justice.gc.ca Verified 1 November 2026
Official page last modified: 30 November 2012
Regulation currency: current to 2026-09-30, last amended 2012-11-30
The RCMP states a displayed non-restricted firearm must have a secure locking device attached, OR be locked in a cabinet, container or room that is difficult to break into.
What the source saysAttach secure locking devices to the firearms; or Lock the firearms in a cabinet, container or room that is difficult to break into.
Source: rcmp.ca Verified 1 November 2026
Official page last modified: 12 November 2024
Transporting it
Transport is a separate section again, and for this class it asks for less than storage does. The transport page covers it in full, including when an Authorization to Transport is and is not needed.
The RCMP states that non-restricted firearms must be unloaded during transportation.
What the source saysNon-restricted firearms must be unloaded during transportation.
Source: rcmp.ca Verified 1 November 2026
Official page last modified: 12 November 2024
Section 10(1) states that an individual may transport a non-restricted firearm only if it is unloaded, except that a muzzle-loading firearm transported between hunting sites must instead have its firing cap or flint removed.
What the source says10 (1) An individual may transport a non-restricted firearm only if (a) except in the case of a muzzle-loading firearm that is being transported between hunting sites, it is unloaded; and (b) in the case of a muzzle-loading firearm that is being transported between hunting sites, its firing cap or flint is removed.
Source: laws-lois.justice.gc.ca Verified 1 November 2026
Official page last modified: 15 October 2026
Regulation currency: current to 2026-09-30, last amended 2012-11
Ammunition
The regulation has no separate ammunition section. The requirement is paragraph (c) of the storage section above: the firearm must not be readily accessible to ammunition unless that ammunition is in a securely locked container — and the regulation allows that to be the same container as the firearm.
Your airline is likely to require the opposite
Sharing one locked case is permitted for storage. Airlines commonly forbid it, and some refuse ammunition in the firearm's container outright. For a flight, follow your airline's packing rule, and note that aviation security sets a separate quantity limit.
SOR/98-209 has no section dedicated to ammunition storage. The ammunition requirement is paragraph (c) of each firearm storage section - s.5(1)(c) for non-restricted, s.6(c) for restricted and s.7(c) for prohibited firearms. In each case the firearm must not be readily accessible to ammunition unless the ammunition is kept in a securely locked container or receptacle, which may be the same one holding the firearm; for restricted and prohibited firearms a purpose-built locked vault, safe or room is an accepted alternative. For display the parallel provisions are s.8(c), s.9(1)(d), s.9(2)(d) and s.9(3)(d).
What the source says — Provision 5(1)(c), 6(c), 7(c)(c) it is not readily accessible to ammunition, unless the ammunition is stored, together with or separately from the firearm, in a container or receptacle that is kept securely locked and that is constructed so that it cannot readily be broken open or into.
Source: laws-lois.justice.gc.ca Verified 1 November 2026
Official page last modified: 30 November 2012
Regulation currency: current to 2026-09-30, last amended 2012-11-30
The RCMP states ammunition must be stored separately from firearms or locked up, and may be stored in the same locked container as the firearms.
What the source saysStore the ammunition separately or lock it up. It can be stored in the same locked container as the firearms.
Source: rcmp.ca Verified 1 November 2026
Official page last modified: 12 November 2024