Canadian company Lever Arms has developed and imported a 12 gauge bullpup shotgun built around the Chinese QBZ rifles.

The LA K12 Puma is a semi-auto, mag-fed, and importantly in Canada non-restricted shotgun. That means it doesn’t have to be registered with the government, can be freely transported, and used for hunting if one desires.

The shotgun has an adjustable gas-system with two settings, an ambidextrous charging handle, a full flattop rail, and 9 o’clock accessory rails. A 19 inch barrel has a pinned flash hider, and the fore-stock is built off a QBZ style grip.

It ships with a 5 round magazine and does feature a last round bolt hold open. The AK style lever you see at the rear of the magazine well is actually the bolt release. An ambidextrious magazine release sits just above the magwell.

Ryan Corbett at Lever Arms was involved in the development of the shotgun and described it as a project spanning several years to get the design and import from China approved. “This might not be the final iteration of the platform” he said, “but it’s something we’re pretty happy with.”

The Puma costs $899 CAD ($760 USD) and is shipping now.

It’s unusual for a Canadian firearm to go so fast from announcement to release. In a country dominated by pre-orders and extended inspections from the RCMP, for something like this to fly under the public’s radar and be immediately available is unexpected.

As a Tavor shooter who likes 3-gun, I’m excited to try one…