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 Coffee swillin', wine lovin', Owl fearin' Andie McDowell stunt double, who sports retro gear
Vancouver, BC
5465 Posts |
Posted - 09/16/2005 : 3:07 PM
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| I'm leaving in about an hour and will be crossing the border. I threw in a can of bear repellant (actually, I'm not all that worried about bears but I thought I might as well have it around just in case) but then it occurred to me that it might not be legal to take it across to the States. Anyone know? |
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Vancouver, BC
Canada
1422 Posts |
Posted - 09/16/2005 : 3:15 PM
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| Maybe you can claim the right to bear arms! (no pun indented) |
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Coffee swillin', wine lovin', Owl fearin' Andie McDowell stunt double, who sports retro gear
Vancouver, BC
5465 Posts |
Posted - 09/16/2005 : 3:19 PM
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Bwa ha ha!!! Good one! But somehow I doubt the border patrols would have a sense of humour!!! A statement like that would probably trigger a full investigation and there would go my weekend hiking trip.
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Terminator shade wearing, summit questing, double Grinding, Gordo voting self annointed 'dumb ass' and Aconcagua Bagga who dreams of Robson, Teton, The Judge, and.....and....
Port Moody, B.C
Canada
2210 Posts |
Posted - 09/16/2005 : 3:34 PM
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| I'd bring it and say nothing. It's gonna be an easy one to play dumb with if they say anything. Your obviously going hiking and not coming down to raise hell. |
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Calgary, alberta
Canada
670 Posts |
Posted - 09/16/2005 : 4:41 PM
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I've brought mine along each time I've gone to Montana. We never mention it but if they ask we are just stupid Canadians Don't know any better....
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The only reason some people get lost in thought is because it's unfamiliar territory.
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Coffee swillin', wine lovin', Owl fearin' Andie McDowell stunt double, who sports retro gear
Vancouver, BC
5465 Posts |
Posted - 09/18/2005 : 02:18 AM
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Well, I'm back. I took the bear spray. The guy at the border asked us about fruit. We claimed we had no fruit. He opens the back door of the car and starts rooting through our knapsacks. This has never happened to either of us before. We are hoping he doesn't come across the apples in our lunches. After a bit of superficial poking around and finding our hiking boots and underwear, he tells us to have a good time and waves us on.
I still don't know whether or not bear spray is allowed but in any case, I left it in the car the whole time (as I usually do) where it will do a fat lot of good anyway. |
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Intermediate Member
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coquitlam, B.C.
Canada
791 Posts |
Posted - 09/18/2005 : 07:36 AM
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Several years ago an American couple were arrested and bammed from Canada for 5 years for carrying a concealed weapon, bear spray, across the border.
Had they bought it in Canada they could carry it in there pockets and not break any laws. Such are the ways of border guards. They make their own rules at every whim and you have NO recourse to do one damn thing about it.
Best to declare it going either way and save a lot of trouble should you meet up with one of these jerks having a bad day. |
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Anchorage, Alaska
USA
1340 Posts |
Posted - 09/18/2005 : 09:10 AM
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I've carried my bear mace on camping trips into Montana as well and never thought twice about it. That's crazy that people were banned from visiting Canada just for having bear mace. Maybe there's more to the story. Maybe next time I'll ask at the border just to be safe... they've rummaged through my bags more than once before and the last time, they scanned my car and others with an X-ray mounted on a five-ton truck.
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Behind the blue Rockies, the sun is declining; the stars, they come stealing at the close of the day... |
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Beaverton, ON
Canada
1295 Posts |
Posted - 09/18/2005 : 09:41 AM
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In Canada, certain sized(personal size,ie:smaller) pepper sprays, are considered as a 'dangerous' weapon. Not sure about how they view it south of the border, where they have more liberal views on 'weapons' 
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....my memory is like a steel trap..............rusty! |
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 Trail cuttin, GPS packin bushwhacker, wiki hike compilin, who is now Hope-less
2542 Posts |
Posted - 09/18/2005 : 11:11 PM
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Short answer: no
Long answer: not 100% sure. The US Border patrol let across a crazed man with a bloody chainsaw and pepperspray (AFAIK), but he was a US Citizen.
On google, I found this:
quote:
Note... it MUST be declared. Pepper spray is on a Firearms Prohibition Order and is considered a prohibited weapon. Failure to do so can have really bad consequences... especially if your spray can doesn't have the requisite labeling and gets construed as the human use type. That can land you behind Canadian bars for quite some time.
Sounds like whatever you do, make sure you declare it (ie/ as a weapon) at the border, or go to jail do not collect $200. I would phone the US and Canada border services agency before you attempt this, however. Probably not worth the hassle.
Don't forget to contact the US *and* Canadian border customs - the Canadian border may not let you across with it while the US might. |
Edited by - ShadowChaser on 09/18/2005 11:17 PM |
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Anchorage, Alaska
USA
1340 Posts |
Posted - 09/19/2005 : 1:54 PM
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If in doubt, throw it in the ditch... heheh, I realized shortly before one border crossing that I had bullets in my glovebox, thank god I caught that one!
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Behind the blue Rockies, the sun is declining; the stars, they come stealing at the close of the day... |
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Vancouver, B.C.
Canada
847 Posts |
Posted - 09/20/2005 : 01:25 AM
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| I havn't been across that border in a long time. Had a six hour horror story of a time, once. From my experience, thier "rules" are so nebulous that the enforcement aspect becomes arbitrary. |
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Night owl posting,Subie driving, backpacking Dad who is perpetually trying to catch up to his kids on the trail.
Vancouver, BC
Canada
3054 Posts |
Posted - 09/25/2005 : 11:34 PM
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Interesting question: and one that never occurred to me on my last 2 trips to the States when I had a can of spray in its holster strapped to my pack waistbelt. At least it wasn't concealed.
On both trips the US border folks were most concerned about what kind of food we were carrying. On the 2nd trip I mentioned we had jerky which was promptly seized along with our pepperoni. The bear spray was right there in view when we opened up the back to get the potentially "mad beef" out for inspection. Nothing said.
I don't see how it can be an issue coming back into Canada as we're Canadians and bought the stuff over the counter in Canada. I'm inclined to continue taking it, not hiding it and, if asked, tell them I have it. While it might be confiscated, I doubt it would be a serious issue as long as you don't try to hide it.
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"Aging ... it beats the alternative" |
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Can I take bear spray across the border??
