Nope, no joke. That's what she said, and I was in no position to disagree regardless of my personal feelings. I do suspect that there were a number of people in Canada who did not follow the lawful way, just as there would be those in the US who would not.

There are so many firearms around that I don't think anyone has any handle on the actual number. The Luger in great-grandpa's duffel bag from WW2, that Mauser brought home from WWI, the SKS unk brounght back from Malaya or 'Nam, that .455 Webley the gamekeeper had on the Estate, the H&H double rifle, the '73 Colt SAA in the collection, the AK-47s buried when the government forces over ran the rebels back in '72, the PPSh-42 brought back from Korea...who knows? That's just small arms. There are those who deal in bigger weapons as well and yes, you can get them or even make them yourself. The Filipino guerrillas, during the Japanese occupation made their own guns, as have many criminal gangs and frankly, it's not that hard to make a usable mortar.