(ID 371526935 © Iakov Filimonov | Dreamstime.com)

By Julia Lovett-Squires

PAL courses

Province, instructors see surge in gun licensing courses

Apr 1, 2025 | 3:41 PM

It started when Justin Trudeau resigned as prime minister and started to grow as more global events unfolded. Tim Thiessen, the president and owner of Saskatchewan Firearm Safety Training said the reaction was immediate.

“We instantly filled two classes,” he said, noting his business noticed a 241 per cent increase in class registrations.

He explained the students signed up for restricted PAL (Possession and Acquisition License) which would allow them to purchase handguns currently frozen from transfer and long guns in the restricted category.

“The common denominator when talking to students is ‘We hope that the new government is going to be a Conservative government and the non-sensical bans are lifted’ basically,” he said.

As the political climate changes, it has led to more Saskatchewan residents getting their PAL.

Raiders trail series 3-2

Raiders feed off Art Hauser crowd for clutch game five win

10h ago

Funding technology

"It would be difficult": Police chief says body-worn cameras not in near future

17h ago

2024-2025 team awards

North Stars celebrate season with year-end banquet

19h ago

“There’s definite concerns about the government overreaching in regards to privileges that we have as firearms owners,” Thiessen said. “People are concerned, I think.”

The rhetoric coming from U.S. President Donald Trump threatening Canada also has hasn’t helped.

“I think it’s a very small percentage of people [in] regards to prepping or survivalist or anything like that, it’s more just like the ability to go hunting for food, target shooting things like that,” he said.

“We never do or never will encourage open defence because that is illegal in Canada, but you get the vibe that some people are doing that.”

That’s not the only concern about the United States.

“A lot of guns are illegally coming over the borders through the United States. We’ve had multiple people from Ontario telling us that the problem is massive,” he said.

According to the Saskatchewan Firearms Office, there are a total of 14,594 PAL holders in Central Saskatchewan and 30,309 in Northern Saskatchewan. Murray Cowan, deputy commissioner and chief firearms officer said the office has been “extremely busy.”

Since the pandemic ended, both Thiessen and Cowan agree the sport has exploded in popularity.

“We get a lot of enquiries about that and of course folks are always focusing on license renewals as well, making sure that they’re ready to go out and and get out in the outdoors and enjoy themselves,” Cowan said.

In fact, Thiessen, whose business is based in Saskatoon and has students from all over the province including the Battlefords and Meadow Lake said the goal is to ensure everyone stays aware and proactive when it comes to gun ownership.

“World events usually will bring on increases in PAL sales, which is not what we’re looking for,” he said.

But he’s still surprised at the sport’s surge in popularity.

“We have three instructors that work with us, including myself and we’re able to facilitate a multitude of classes, but yeah, it’s gaining a lot of steam,” he said.

Canada’s gun rules are extremely stringent, and Thiessen said he likes that.

“It protects people, right? That’s what we want,” he said. “We want to see people ethically using their guns.”

—

julia.lovettsquires@pattisonmedia.com

On BlueSky: juleslovett.bsky.social