This Article and Video expresses my views and opinions on this matter and should not be taken as legal advice.

Main points covered:

• Uncontrolled Firearms do not require a Firearms License within Canada to own and operate.

• What is an Uncontrolled Airgun and Airsoft Gun?

• What is an Uncontrolled Blank Gun / Starter Pistols?

• What about Fully Automatic Airguns and Airsoft Guns?

• What about Replica Guns?

NOTE: Controlled Firearms require a POL (Possession Only License) , PAL (Possession Acquisition License) or R-PAL (Restricted Possession Acquisition License) within Canada to own and operate. 

MEMORANDUM D19-13-2

Firearm – a barreled weapon from which any shot, bullet, or other projectile can be discharged and that is capable of causing serious bodily injury or death to a person, and includes any frame or receiver of such a barreled weapon and anything that can be adapted for use as a firearm.

“Uncontrolled”firearms are those devices that, although falling within the definition of a firearm in the Criminal Code, are exempt from specific legal requirements of the Firearms Act and its regulations, as well as from other legislative provisions. “Uncontrolled” firearms should not be subdivided into any of the non-restricted, restricted, or prohibited classes. The following types of firearms are deemed “uncontrolled”:

Flare, blank, rivet and industrial guns: Any device that is designed exclusively for signaling, for notifying of distress, or for firing blank cartridges or for firing stud cartridges, explosive-driven rivets or other industrial projectiles, provided that the importer intends to use it only for the purpose for which it is designed.

NOTE: (Toy guns and starter pistols do not generally qualify as firearms. However, some toy or model guns and starter pistols may be designed with very realistic mechanisms or appearances (e.g., color, size, scale, translucency) and resembling a real make and model of a firearm. In such cases, they may be considered replica firearms even if they are made of plastic, die cast zinc, or other material.)

Low muzzle velocity/energy guns: Any barreled weapon that is not designed or adapted to discharge projectiles at a muzzle velocity exceeding 152.4 meters per second (500 feet per second) and at a muzzle energy exceeding 5.7 Joules, or to discharge projectiles that are designed or adapted to attain a velocity exceeding 152.4 meters per second (500 feet per second) and an energy exceeding 5.7 Joules. Both thresholds of 152.4 mps and 5.7 Joules must be exceeded for the firearm to be considered “controlled”. This requirement exempts firearms that fire below the threshold velocity with a standard projectile, but exceed the threshold velocity when fired with a high-velocity projectile. 

Airsoft guns and certain types of paintball guns or markers may qualify as a replica firearm, if the muzzle velocity of the projectile does not cause serious bodily harm and their external features are clearly designed to resemble a specific and readily identifiable make and model of a firearm. To be considered a firearm, within the meaning of the Criminal Code, an airsoft gun must have a muzzle velocity in excess of 111.6 meters per second (366 feet per second).

NOTE: This memorandum used to state when using a .20 gram BB but does not specify this BB weight anymore?

NOTE: The term air gun is a colloquial term referring to BB or pellet guns. Such guns operate either as spring- powered, gas-powered, or electrically powered. If the muzzle velocity of the air gun is less than 152.4 mps (500 fps)/5.7 joules but still able to cause serious bodily injury to a person, it may be considered an “uncontrolled” firearm. Airsoft guns and certain types of paintball guns may qualify as a replica firearm (see paragraph 49 of this memorandum).

Replica firearms:

“Replica firearm” is defined as any device that is designed or intended to exactly resemble, or to resemble with near precision, a firearm, and that itself is not a firearm, but does not include any such device that is designed or intended to exactly resemble, or to resemble with near precision, an antique firearm.

For a device to be a replica firearm it must meet all three requirements:

• (a) it cannot be a firearm, meaning it does not discharge a projectile with sufficient energy to cause serious bodily injury or death to a person. If the device is a firearm, then it cannot be a replica firearm (and vice versa);

• (b) it must resemble exactly, or with near precision, a real existing firearm of an identifiable make and model. With respect to visual examination, note that the maximum observing distance is one at which the equivalent make and model of the firearm can be identified. This distance will vary from one firearm make to the next. For example: A Luger pistol has a very distinctive silhouette as compared to other makes and is therefore more readily identified from further away. The examination of the object is something more than casual, but less than detailed. The device does not need to be so close that markings are identifiable; and

• (c) it cannot be designed or intended to exactly resemble, or to resemble with near precision, an antique firearm. 

RCMP Website "Air Guns"

1. Air guns that are "Controlled" Firearms for purposes of both the Firearms Act and the Criminal Code

These are air guns with both a high muzzle velocity (greater than 152.4 meters or 500 feet per second) and a high muzzle energy (greater than 5.7 joules or 4.2 foot-pounds). The "muzzle velocity" is the speed of a projectile at the instant it leaves the muzzle of a gun, normally expressed in meters per second or feet per second. The "muzzle energy" is the energy of a projectile at the instant it leaves the muzzle of a gun, expressed in joules or foot-pounds. Air guns need to meet both standards to be classified as "Controlled" firearms for purposes of the Firearms Act.

These high-powered air guns are subject to the same license and registration requirements as a conventional "Controlled" firearm. Owners and users are also required to store, transport, display and handle them safely in accordance with the regulations supporting the Firearms Act.

Usually, the manufacturer's specifications are used to determine what muzzle velocity and muzzle energy an air gun was designed to have. This information may be available in the user's manual or on the manufacturer's website. If the information is not available, individuals can call the Royal Canadian Mounted Police Canadian Firearms Program (CFP) at 1-800-731-4000 and ask to speak to a firearm technician to find out if the air gun is considered to be a firearm for purposes of the Firearms Act.

High-powered air rifles are generally classified as non-restricted firearms. However, the classification depends on the exact design of the air gun. Air rifles manufactured to resemble an assault rifle could be non-restricted, restricted or prohibited depending on the exact model imitated. High-powered air rifles would also be prohibited firearms if fully automatic or if they have a sawed-off barrel. They could also be restricted firearms if they have a folding stock that reduces the overall length to less than 660mm. 

Additional thought on this subject: Even though Uncontrolled Firearms are not governed by the same laws that apply to Controlled Firearms within the Firearms act and do not need to be handled or stored similar in the same way you are required to handle, transport and store a Controlled Firearm, we need to treat our Uncontrolled Airguns, Airsoft Guns and Blank guns with care and go over and above what is expected when had handle, transport and store them.

This YouTube video was made to touch upon the tragic shooting and death of a young man at the Beavercreek Walmart in the US. The tragedy was the result of poor judgment and misunderstanding of the situation that started with John Crawford (22) deciding to walk around a Walmart store with a very realistic looking replica Air Rifle. Subsequently in the midst of all the excitement as customers ran out of the store, Angela Williams (37) had a medical emergency that also cost her her life. 

Below is an outline of YouTube video that follows:

John Crawford 22 Years old was shot  by police in a Beavercreek Walmart while holding a Crosman MK-177 Pellet BB gun.

Another death as a result: Angela Williams, 37, was with her 9-year-old daughter and suffered a medical emergency and died as a result as people attempted to flee the store amongst the panic.

John Crawford is Survived by: LeeCee Johnson, 22 Mother of Crawford's children (Believe he had 2 children)

NOTES: 

• Walmart US keeps these guns on shelf in the box generally, but not locked up or behind glass.
• In Canada Most places keep even Airguns behind locked glass. 

The weapon (Crosman MK-177), which can shoot both pellets and BBs, had been removed from its original packaging, was this done by John Crawford or was it already unpackaged when he picked it up?

Ronald Ritchie made the original 911 call, I listened to two of the police 911 phone call recording and he seemed to be talking level headed and not making it out to be anything more than what he saw which was a black man walking around a Walmart with what looked like a real rifle. John Crawford was holding the rifle while he had his phone between his shoulder and ear, John was fiddling with the rifle and looked to be trying to load it. Ronald Ritchie said John was periodically pointing it at people (which may or may not have been intentional).

LeeCee Johnson, 22, who identified herself as the mother of Crawford’s children, said she was talking to Crawford on her cell phone at the time of the shooting:

“We was just talking. He (John) said he was at the video games playing videos and he went over there by the toy section where the toy guns were. And the next thing I know, he said ‘It’s not real,’ and the police start shooting and they said ‘Get on the ground,’ but he was already on the ground because they had shot him,” she said. She added she “could hear him just crying and screaming” and said officers “shot him down like he was not even human.”

First and Foremost, this event is very tragic and my condolences go out to the families and friends of John Crawford and Angela Williams.

Questions we need to ask ourselves:

• Why was John Crawford walking around the Walmart with what looked like an "assault rifle" in a very public location?
• With all the public shootings these days, why would you walk around a public Walmart with what looks like a very real and threatening rifle, similar to the kinds used in these types of shootings in the past?
• Why did the police seem so quick to shoot John down? Where they a bit eager or hyped up? It would be very interesting to see the surveillance video for this tragedy?
• Why are very realistic Airguns on open display and so easy to attain? Keep in mind even a regular break barrel Airgun looks like a real rifle to most people.

What is so damaging about all this:

• This will add "ammunition so to speak" for bureaucrats and authorities to question if Airguns should look realistic, or if they now need to have bright colored markings all over them so people will assume they are not reel? Or perhaps outlaw them completely or make them very hard to attain for the average person.
• Now the general public will have yet another reason to have a negative view on Airguns. I fear that putting more restrictions on airguns is just a stepping stone to more restrictions on real guns and more restrictions on our rights overall.

What ever happened to common sense? It has become uncommon these days…

 Based on how easy it is for a person to get their hands on very realistic looking Airguns in most US based retail stores, I am surprised this tragedy has not happened already, or more often.

Would you walk around your neighborhood with what looks like an Assault rifle? So why walk around a Walmart with one?

Unfortunately we can not protect everyone from themselves, the more failsafes we put in place, the less reasonability people have for themselves and the more responsibility it seems is placed on businesses, government, organizations, parks and events…

We even need warning labels on our coffee telling us it's hot, or to not put poison in our mouths, there are railing and barriers around any bit of water or slight ledge.

Society is programing people to think less fore themselves and trust that everything is going to be OK.

Well it's not true, there is still something called survival of the fittest no matter how many safety nest are in place.

We need to spend more time teaching our kids how to act and behave and how to think for themselves and not be so dependent on everyone else to protect them from themselves. Don't  leave it up to the TV, movies, video games or even their just as oblivious friends. 

Hey everyone, we just got a really large Umarex order in our Canada location so if you have been waiting on some product from Umarex we should have most items in stock now...

Some of the more popular Umarex items these days are:

• Umarex Steel Force 6 Round Burst CO2 BB Rifle
• Umarex Steel Storm 6 Round Burst CO2 BB Gun
• Umarex H&K MP5K-PDW CO2 BB Rifle
• Beretta PX4 Storm CO2 Blowback Pellet / BB Pistol
• Desert Eagle Black Magnum Research CO2 Blowback Pellet Pistol
• Umarex Browning Buck Mark URX .177 Break Barrel Pellet Pistol
• Beretta FS M84 Blowback CO2 BB Pistol
• Colt Python 6 Inch CO2 Steel BB Revolver
• Colt Commander 1911 Blowback CO2 BB Pistol
• Umarex Legends Luger P08 CO2 BB Pistol
• Walther PPS CO2 Blowback BB Pistol
• Umarex Legends C96 Blowback CO2 BB Pistol
• Legends Makarov Ultra Blowback CO2 BB Pistol
• Umarex HPP Blowback CO2 BB Pistol
• Umarex Walther P38 Blowback CO2 BB Pistol
• Walther CP99 Compact Black Blowback CO2 BB Pistol
• Walther PPK CO2 BB Blowback Pistol 

Great news, we just received our shipment of KWC P-08 Luger CO2 Blowback Pistols and yes we have them in both 4.5mm Steel BB and 6mm Plastic Airsoft so this news should make everyone very happy!

This shipment is only for our Canada Replica Airguns Store at this time but we hope to have them in the US Replica Airguns Store shortly when we add the KWC line.

The KWC Mauser is still a bit of a ways off since it was still a sample product when I tested it.

So make sure to pick yours up ASAP before we sell out of them as we have limited supplies and if you haven't already watched my Table Top Video and Field Test Video for the KWC P-08 Luger then make sure to do so.

Buy KWC Luger Airsoft Version in the Canada Store

Buy KWC Luger BB Version in the Canada Store

We have just added the Swiss Arms 4 inch & 6 inch Full Metal Revolvers to the US Store, these are basically teh KWC made guns licensed through Cybergun with the Swiss Arms licensing so you can check out my Umarex Colt Python 357 since it too is the same base gun made by  KWC.

Here are the specs for these Shell loading 357 styled CO2 4.5mm BB Revolvers.

6 Inch Barrel Length Model

• FPS: 410
• Mag Capacity: 6 rounds
• Power CO2
• Length: 11.42 inches
• Weight: 2.67 lbs
• Full Metal, Rubberized Plastic, Textured Grips
• Rotating Cylinder, Manual Safety, Working Ejector Rod
• Single & Double Action
• Includes: 1 Gun, 6 Realistic Shells, 1 Speed Loader

4 Inch Barrel Length Model

• FPS: 344
• Mag Capacity: 6 rounds
• Power CO2
• Length: 9.44 inches
• Weight: 2.39 lbs
• Full Metal, Rubberized Plastic, Textured Grips
• Rotating Cylinder, Manual Safety, Working Ejector Rod
• Single & Double Action
• Includes: 1 Gun, 6 Realistic Shells, 1 Speed Loader

Two new CO2 Blowback Airguns to preview for you today that I will of course be doing full Table Top and Field Test Shooting reviews down the road for each of them.

First up, the Umarex Colt Commander CO2 Blowback BB Pistol:

• Uses 4.5mm steel BB's.

• Uses 12-gram CO2 cartridges.

• Blowback semi auto action.

• 18-rd drop-free full size BB magazine.

• Single-action-only.

• Fixed front and rear white dot sights.

• Skeleton trigger and hammer.

• Textured grips.

• 325 fps.

• 2.1 pounds.

• Smooth bore barrel.

• Functioning grip safety.

• Slide stays open when last BB is shot.

• All metal.

• Fully Colt licensed.

Next we have the ASG CZ P-09 Duty CO2 Blowback Pellet/BB Pistol:

• Uses .177 caliber pellets or 4.5mm steel BB's.

• Uses 12-gram CO2 cartridges.

• Blowback semi auto action.

• 16-rd drop-free double sided magazine.

• Single and double action.

• Fixed front and rear white dot sights.

• 380 fps.

• 1.6 pounds.

• Rifled barrel.

• Threaded muzzle.

• Metal and plastic.

• Fully CZ licensed.

Buy the Colt Commander in Canada - Buy the Colt Commander in the US

Buy the CZ P-09 Duty in Canada - Buy the CZ P-09 Duty in the US

We have recently lowered our prices even more in our Canada Replica Airguns Store just to make sure we have the most competitive prices in Canada! Even so, if you find a lower price on an "In Stock" item then blast us an email and we will always do our best to price match other Canada retail and online stores.

If you have purchased a product from our Canada Online Store within the last 30 days and you find we have lowered the price on it, again, send us an email with your order number and we will send you an in-store credit for the price difference.

We have also moved to shipping via Fedex which in many cases will get your order to you even quicker across Canada. We may in some situations ship using Canada Post depending on where you are located but now we have more options to better suite our customers!

Lastly, I know there are US online stores that will ship select items to Canada and you may feel they have lower prices which at first may seem true. I would urge you to consider a few things before buying from the US and shipping to Canada. First of all there are often extended costs like brokerage fees, duties and add on taxes.  And just because a US store will ship to Canada, it does not mean you will get the item you ordered. Even if it seems legal according to our Canada import laws, many times Canada Customs will either hold, confiscate and or return items back to the sender and there is very little you can do about it other than try and plead your case. So worst case scenario, you could lose your money and get nothing in return?

And what if there is a problem with the order, wrong or defective item, then you need to ship it back to the US and again have it shipped back to Canada, two more potential customs related problems that you need to consider...

Anyways, just keep it simple, save yourself the headaches and order from the Canada Replica Airguns Store :)

Replica Airguns Canada Store

Replica Airguns US Store

Two of our most popular single shot target/hunting pellet shooters are back in stock again after what has been a rather long delay. The truth of the matter is we just didn't have a supplier for them anymore here in Canada until now. Webley as a company has been through some pretty big changes over the past several years and now hopefully it has all been worked out and supply will be steady.

Don't worry about the quality, that is still top notch! We now have the Turkish made Webley Alecto and Webley Tempest (both available in .177 and .22 caliber pellets) back in stock and I am happy to say the Alecto has even been improved with an upgraded Air Reservoir and even higher fps than before which means the Webley Alecto and the Webley Tempest now shoot right up to our maximum fps here in Canada before becoming restricted firearms so no need for an R-PAL which means happy shooting in places other than a gun range!

I would even rcomend both these Webley pistols for small pest control especially in the .22 caliber versions as they have the power and accuracy to get the job done.

Buy Webley Airguns in our Canada Store - Buy Webley Airguns in our US Store

Is an Airgun Good for Self Defense? Another one of those questions I get asked fairly often that's a bit hard to answer in a few sentences... Not all of us have easy access to a 9mm pistol or even a rifle but many of us can get our hands on an airgun fairly easily and they look real enough, I guess that is one thing they have going for them.

But what if the mere sight of what looks like a gun does not scare an intruder off? If you where hoping that would be enough, you may just be out of luck and what if you just brought an Airgun to a "real" gun fight? You are going to be drastically "outgunned" pun intended and here's why. A 4.5mm Steel BB weighs about 5.1 grains and generally you are looking at about 2-3 foot pounds of energy from a CO2 BB gun. Even a .177 caliber lead pellet is only marginally heavier at around 7-8 grains and if you're really lucky you might just get 4 foot pounds of energy out of a CO2 pellet pistol.

So let's take a look at a fairly conservative "real pistol" rounds, the 9mm. The 9mm rounds come in different bullet weighs but you can get a 120 grain 9mm in a plus p ammo with as much as 400 foot pounds of energy and even with that much raw power, many people claim that a 9mm round does not always have enough stopping power to put down a person even when shot multiple times center mass. It just depends what vital organs or arteries you hit that determines if he gets lucky or you get lucky.

Your 5.1 grain 4.5mm Steel BB is not going to do anything if it hits any type of clothing and even if you find some flesh it's just going to piss off the intruder.

My suggestion is to consider a bat or a golf club or a really big knife or just about anything other than an airgun because if the sight of the airgun replica does not scare an intrude away then you are really buggered.

Keep in mind that you need to abide by any laws regarding the use of self defense in your areas. Even just physical force could be considered a crime and at the end of the day you are ultimately accountable for your actions.

Two questions that come up over and over again and to be honest I just hate answering, mainly because both of these questions to me are kind of common sense questions. I feel if someone where to stop and actually think about teh question, the answers would become obvious.

That said, common sense has to be learned somewhere and not all of us are exposed to the same life experiences so here goes...

The two questions are:

• Will this Ammunition Work in my Gun?

• Can I Convert a Blank Gun to a Real Gun?

The answer for both of these question is actually the same! Use the ammo made for your gun and do not try to use anything other than the ammo that was made for your gun. Do not try to modify your gun to shoot anything other than the ammo that was made for it, if you do, you may be breaking the law and could land yourself in jail. If you can follow these rules then your ammo and gun will work as intended :)

So that's pretty much it in a nutshell, watch my YouTube video below as I show you examples of ammo types with visuals on exactly why you need to use the ammo made for your gun. I also talk about the dangers of attempting to modify a blank gun to shoot some sort of real bullet and why it is a very bad idea in so many ways to try and convert a blank gun into a real gun.

Buy the ROHM RG-88 9mm P.A.K. Blank Pistol in the Canada Store

Buy the ROHM RG-88 9mm P.A.K. Blank Pistol in the US Store

I would think that most of you by now are aware of my other YouTube Channel, GetFitOver40, or perhaps not? Either way you are now :) I have been running GetFitOver40.com for almost as long as I have been running the ReplicaAirguns YouTube Channel and Website but I put GetFitOver40 on the back burner until about a year ago where I started investing some of my time back into it and as of right now the GetFitOver40 YouTube Channel has over one hundred videos, close to one millions videos views and over four thousand subscribers so it's doing pretty well.

If you haven't already guessed, GetFitOver40 is a fitness channel geared to those 40+ but I have lots of fitness related info for all ages including fitness gadget reviews!

My latest endeavor is a collaboration with the folks over at mrKnife.com, I like knives and they have an abundant supply of knifes for me to review so it seems like a good fit. Mr Knife is a Canada based online store supplying a variety of knife brands including, Cold Steel, SOG, Kershaw Canada and Ontario Knife Company. Here is the mrKnife new YouTube channel location.

So if any of these other YouTube Channels and Websites interest you then please show me your support and check them out and subscribe :)

This video in many ways goes over a Q&A I did back November 2013 but since we keep getting asked these question all the time, I thought I would address them again :)

1. How much is shipping in Canada? In a nut shell... $15 flat rate across Canada even to Ontario  and Quebec.

4. Will I have problems with Customs? No you will not since all the items we have listed in our Canada Replica Airguns store have already been imported into Canada and will be shipped from Canada to Canada, no boarders are crossed when we ship to you.

7. Are all guns legal in Canada? Yes, since they have all been legally imported into Canada already, they are legal to sell, buy and own in all parts of Canada. Some items you will have to be 18+ years old to purchase.

10. What about price matching? We will price match any Canada based online or retail store within Canada that ships from within Canada. The only stipulation we have is that the item be currently in stock since some "questionable" business will drop the price on items they do not have in stock or have discontinued.

13. How long will shipping take? We always do our best to get your orders packed up as quick as we can and generally have them out the door within one or two business days, there are times when we get backed up with orders and this may timeframe may get stretched out to three days at most. Once Canada Post has the order it will take another 1-5 business days to get to you depending on how far away you are located from our BC based warehouse.

I hope this info has cleared a few things up for everyone!

I have already posted individual company updates on this years 2014 Vegas SHOT Show so make sure to checkout the links to each post below. You can also watch my Full Vimeo video that includes some video and a few more photos...

• SHOT SHOW VEGAS 2014 UMAREX BOOTH

• SHOT SHOW VEGAS 2014 ASG BOOTH

• SHOT SHOW VEGAS 2014 CROSMAN BOOTH

• SHOT SHOW VEGAS 2014 GAMO BOOTH

• SHOT SHOW VEGAS 2014 INOKATSU AIRSOFT

• SHOT SHOW VEGAS 2014 G&G BOOTH

• SHOT SHOW VEGAS 2014 MISCELLANEOUS

I get asked all the time what my favorite guns are? Truth is it changes from time to time but I still keep coming back to these guns over and over again, here are my top 10 Airguns. But this does not mean these are the only guns I like and you never know, I may change the list from time to time...

MICHAEL'S TOP 10 AIRGUN PISTOLS

A quick heads up for all our Canada Replica Airguns Store Customers. We just got in a bunch more Umarex products so if you have been waiting on something to come back in stock it may just be waiting for you... Including the very popular Umarex Steel Force BB Machine gun.

Buy Umarex Products in the Canada Store

Boxing Week Sale at Replica Airguns (25th -31st  December, 2013!) The Christmas - New Year Festivity brings much awaited discounts on all items in the Replica Airguns Canada and USA store. All items at flat 20% off!

We combed through some of 2013's best Christmas promotions and came up with a flat 20% off discount on all items in our Canada and USA based stores. An exciting mix of all models of Replica airguns, rifles, pistols and accessories is on sale for our subscribers and existing customers.

Use this exclusive coupon code to avail the discount:

• For Canada customers (http://www.replicaairguns.ca/)– KASDJALSKDJAJK
• For USA customers (/) – IUK55DOTXV70

 

I wanted to let all our Canada Store Customers know we recently received an order of Umarex and Cybergun products!

I wanted to let all our Canada customers know that if you place your order by December 16th, we will get your order to you by the 24th. Of course if Canada Post screws up then this is outside of our control.

For our US customers we of course will do our very best to get your orders to you as quickly as possible during this holiday season.

What can I say, most places are jack'n up their prices and we seem to keep lowering them!

Now I know some of you are going to say, "why are these guns so much lower cost in the US than in Canada?" You can blame that one on the money grabbers along the way when we have to ship and import many products from the US to Canada. In fact our supplier is exactly the same for all the Cybergun products in both Canada and the US, it just costs a lot more for us to land them here in Canada , and you guessed it, we pass that extra cost right back to you our beloved Canadian customers :)

So back to the good news for our US customers...

If you have not already picked up one of these amazing Replica CO2 Blowback BB pistols then make sure to do so now that they are at an all time low price point:

• Buy the Cybergun Tanfoglio Witness 1911 A1 Blowback - Full Metal in the US

• Buy the Cybergun Beretta/Taurus P92 - Full Metal in the US

OK so here's where we are at two weeks into Movember!

Help out if you can and get involved in the Movember Cause!