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.
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.
#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.
I assume he's referring to failed prototype rifles that never made it into mass production but appeared in videogames.
Ask H&K for a list of the all the military rifles they ever made and dump it onto the list and you get some cool-looking failed experiments made to bid for a military procurement contract that have only been seen in Call of Duty.
sdoering|1 month ago
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...
https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/regulations/sor-98-462/f... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Firearms_regulation_in_Canada https://ottawafirearmsafety.ca/firearms-ban/ https://www.thefirearmblog.com/blog/more-illogical-gun-bans-... https://www.chroniclejournal.com/news/national/fact-file-ame... https://rcmp.ca/en/firearms/firearms-reference-table
Pxtl|1 month ago
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|1 month ago
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.
Waterluvian|1 month ago
SapporoChris|1 month ago
Pxtl|1 month ago
Ask H&K for a list of the all the military rifles they ever made and dump it onto the list and you get some cool-looking failed experiments made to bid for a military procurement contract that have only been seen in Call of Duty.
comrh|1 month ago
mothballed|1 month ago
#144117 on page 30 -- "AR15.com" "ARFCOM"
That's a website and the company registered under that name does not have an FFL to manufacture firearms. There is no such firearm.
thunderfork|1 month ago