By Travis Bader, founder of Silvercore Outdoors.
Last updated: 24 October 2026
No federal licence or permit governs shooting a non-restricted firearm on your own land, so the answer depends on where the property sits. The Criminal Code makes careless use of a firearm an offence everywhere, your municipality can prohibit discharge by bylaw, and in BC the Wildlife Act makes it an offence to discharge a firearm in a designated no shooting area. Restricted and prohibited firearms are a separate case: federal law limits where they can be possessed to your dwelling-house and places a Chief Firearms Officer authorizes, and ties target shooting with them to approved shooting clubs and ranges.
What does federal law say about shooting on private land?
The Firearms Act licenses people and registers restricted and prohibited firearms. It does not issue a permit for where you shoot a non-restricted rifle or shotgun. The federal rule that follows you onto your own land is Criminal Code section 86(1): every person commits an offence who, without lawful excuse, uses, carries, handles, ships, transports or stores a firearm "in a careless manner or without reasonable precautions for the safety of other persons."
Under section 86(3), the indictable maximum is two years for a first offence and five years for a repeat.
Owning the land does not change where a bullet goes. If you cannot account for where every round stops, you have no business shooting there, whatever the bylaw says.
Can you shoot a restricted or prohibited firearm at home?
No. Federal law places restricted firearms at approved clubs and ranges:
- Firearms Act section 17 limits possession of a registered restricted or prohibited firearm to your dwelling-house or a place authorized by a Chief Firearms Officer.
- Section 28(b) lets a Chief Firearms Officer approve a restricted firearm transfer for target practice or competition "under the auspices of a shooting club or shooting range that is approved under section 29."
- Section 19 covers the Authorization to Transport (ATT). The RCMP states that owners must obtain an ATT from the provincial or territorial Chief Firearms Officer, with an exception for travel to an approved shooting club or range in your province.
Your back field is not an approved range, and it is not your dwelling-house either. The Criminal Code defines a dwelling-house as "the whole or any part of a building or structure that is kept or occupied as a permanent or temporary residence," and that definition applies to the Firearms Act under its section 2(2).
Who decides in British Columbia?
Two layers sit on top of the Criminal Code in BC.
Your municipality. Community Charter section 8(5) states: "A council may, by bylaw, regulate and prohibit in relation to the discharge of firearms." Read your city or district's firearms discharge bylaw before anything else. Outside a municipality, check the regional district firearms discharge bylaw. Local Government Act section 423 deals with "a bylaw of a regional district regulating or prohibiting the discharge of firearms," and makes such a bylaw unenforceable to the extent a regulation under Wildlife Act section 108(2)(n) or (o) is in force in the regional district.
The province. The Wildlife Act sets these offences:
- Section 32: "A person who discharges a firearm in a no shooting area commits an offence."
- Section 31: discharging a firearm on or across the travelled portions of a highway prescribed under section 108.
- Section 27(1): discharging a firearm from a motor vehicle or a motorized boat.
- Section 28: hunting or trapping without reasonable consideration for the lives, safety or property of other persons.
No shooting areas are designated in the Closed Areas Regulation, B.C. Reg. 76/84: section 6 (Schedule 5), section 7 (seasonal, Schedule 6) and section 7.1 (Schedule 5.1). Section 12 designates the road allowance of every public road of two lanes or more as a no shooting area. Your property can sit inside one.
The Wildlife Act defines "firearm" to include any device that propels a projectile "by means of an explosion, compressed gas or spring." Airguns count under this Act, so a pellet rifle in the backyard is subject to the same no shooting area rule.
Outside BC, the same layers apply: the Criminal Code, provincial wildlife legislation and local discharge bylaws.
What should you check before shooting at home?
- Read your municipal or regional district firearms discharge bylaw. Ask the municipal hall for the answer in writing if the bylaw is unclear.
- Confirm the land is outside every no shooting area in the Closed Areas Regulation schedules.
- Locate the travelled portion of any road near your property and keep every shot well clear of it.
- Build or confirm a backstop that stops every round on your land.
- Shoot non-restricted firearms only.
- Tell your neighbours before you start.
Join the Silvercore Club
If restricted firearms are part of your plans, an approved club or range is where they get used. The Silvercore Club was the first club in Canada approved by the RCMP as meeting ATT issuance requirements, and it is accepted in all provinces and territories across Canada. Membership is $59 CAD per year, open to anyone with or without a PAL, and includes regulatory updates by email so a bylaw or law change does not catch you out. Join the Silvercore Club.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need a permit to shoot on my own land in BC?
No federal licence or permit covers where you shoot a non-restricted firearm. In BC, check your municipal or regional district firearms discharge bylaw and confirm the land is outside a no shooting area under the Closed Areas Regulation, B.C. Reg. 76/84.
Can I shoot my restricted handgun on my property?
No. A restricted firearm may be possessed only at your dwelling-house or a place authorized by a Chief Firearms Officer (Firearms Act section 17), target shooting with it is tied to an approved shooting club or shooting range (section 28(b)), and it is transported under an Authorization to Transport issued by the Chief Firearms Officer. Your property is not an approved range.
Does the BC Wildlife Act apply to airguns?
Yes. The Wildlife Act defines a firearm to include any device that propels a projectile by means of an explosion, compressed gas or spring, so the no shooting area offence in section 32 applies to airguns.
What federal law applies when I shoot on my own property?
Criminal Code section 86(1) makes it an offence to use, carry, handle, ship, transport or store a firearm in a careless manner or without reasonable precautions for the safety of other persons. Owning the land is no defence.
