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UPDATE: As of February 2016, we are no longer charging the “tactical / customized surcharge” described in this post. Certain type of firearms (such as AR-15 rifles) have actually become easier to export than they were in 2012 when the charge was implemented. Restricted classified firearms do have a small extra cost, which can be found on our Pricing page. Furthermore, in special cases that require significant extra research or work on our part, we will quote you any extra cost ahead of time.

Let’s start by genuinely saying “thank-you”.


Thank-you to the many folks we’ve been able to serve in the past year. Thank-you for being appreciative of the service we offer, and the role we play in helping you enjoy shooting sports to the fullest. It has truly been our pleasure to work with so many of you — whether to save you lots of money, or to help you get that specific model you couldn’t find at home. We plan to continue to serve in these ways and more, well into the future.

Our focus is on you, the individual. And our pricing reflects that.

Our pricing for exports is essentially “flat” pricing, depending on what country you’re in. The countries that are easiest to export to, and with whom we have the most experience, are less expensive than others, reflecting the workload associated with each. The first gun on an export license is more expensive than subsequent guns on the same transaction, also reflecting the associated workload.

Because of the way the U.S. Government structures the “exporter registration fees”, most firearm exporters pay a flat $250-per-export-license fee to the government. However, we have intentionally opted use the other option, which basically means that for transactions averaging under $10,000 value, we can be very competitive on our pricing compared to other exporters.

But this is all intentional: growing up working in the family sporting goods shop in a border town (Dave’s Sports Shop, started by my grandparents in 1957), I saw first-hand the legitimate need for individual Canadians to get their gear from the USA. As this has gotten more and more complex through the years, the need for an intermediary like Borderview has grown — both because a registered exporter is legally required, and because the laws are far too complex for an individual to sort through.

Here’s what’s changing:

Finally, let’s get to the point of this post.

Because there is so much complexity in this industry, we want to make things as simple as possible for you. This includes having simple, easy-to-understand pricing. However, our current “flat” pricing unfortunately does not reflect the varying degree of workload associated with different types of exports to a given country. For example, exporting a Remington hunting rifle to a sportsman in Canada is much more straight-forward than exporting a tactical AR15-style rifle that requires a custom barrel replacement and magazine capacity limitation.

Because we’re spending so much of our time doing custom research and planning for these more complex “tactical” and “customized” exports, we’ve had to contemplate an increase in our prices.

However, rather than increasing prices across the board, we have decided to only increase prices on those exports that require the greatest amount of resources: these “tactical” and “customized” export requests.

It’s an unfortunate reality, but these exports really do take a lot more time and resources than others. We have nothing against customization, of course, nor against some of the modern tactical gear that so many people enjoy. But as a matter of business, it only makes sense that we price our offerings accordingly.

So, beginning today, our Pricing for Firearm Exports now includes the following “Tactical / Customized Export Surcharges”:

Pricing for firearm exports

What defines “tactical” and “customized”? Ultimately, it’s a case-by-case determination by our team. But, you can expect that AR-15 rifles, projects that require special research, or any export that requires customization or gunsmith work, to fall into this category. If you’re curious, just send us a note.

Thank you for your understanding. If you have any questions please feel to reach out by emailing export@borderview.com.