Sources And Verification
The source hierarchy Holdover uses for Canadian firearms policy, reference articles, tools, product coverage, and tracker pages.
Last updated: May 19, 2026
Holdover's strongest work should be source-led. When a reader lands on a reference page, tracker, tool, or policy explainer, they should be able to understand where the important facts came from and how recently they were checked.
Start here when the source trail matters.
These are the reader-facing Holdover reference pages that should carry policy, storage, classification, and licensing context around the site.
Canadian Firearms Classification Timeline
How the current categories, OICs, handgun freeze, amnesty, and compensation file developed over time.
Storage and transportStorage And Transport Source Map
The RCMP, ATT, and SOR/98-209 source trail for individual owner questions.
Orders in CouncilCanadian Firearms OIC Index
A reference path into current prohibition, amnesty, and source-check questions.
Program trackerCanadian Firearms Buyback Tracker
The running source trail for compensation, declarations, deadlines, and program updates.
TermsCanadian Firearms Glossary
Plain-language definitions for the terms that keep showing up in policy and range conversations.
LicensingCanadian PAL Pathway
The beginner-facing path through licensing, training, safety, and next steps.
Primary Sources
For law and policy coverage, Holdover looks first for primary Canadian material, including:
- The Firearms Act, Criminal Code provisions, regulations, and Orders in Council
- Canada Gazette notices and regulatory documents
- Public Safety Canada pages, news releases, and program material
- RCMP Canadian Firearms Program notices and reference material
- Parliament, committee evidence, Hansard, and Library of Parliament publications
- Court decisions and official case records
- Statistics Canada data and other government datasets
- Parliamentary Budget Officer reports and costing documents
For technical shooting and gear coverage, Holdover looks for manufacturer documentation, current manuals, published specifications, standard measurement conventions, and directly observed use when available.
Secondary Sources
News reports, advocacy groups, retailer pages, forum posts, and social posts can be useful context, but they are treated as secondary unless they contain original documentation or direct evidence.
Secondary sources are especially useful for reader questions, emerging disputes, and examples of how a policy or product is being understood in the real world.
Verification Notes
For pages where facts can change, Holdover aims to show a last-checked date or source note. This matters most for legal explainers, buyback and amnesty coverage, tool source notes, and evergreen reference pages.
When a number or legal claim is central to an article, the source should be named in the body, linked when possible, and checked against the current version before publication.