RCMP Watch

Eva Salinas, Globe and Mail, July 7, 2006

VANCOUVER — The robbery took place on a rural road, about three kilometres outside of Chemainus, a town of 3,900 tucked in along the Trans-Canada Highway between Victoria and Nanaimo.

The home is nestled along a residential stretch in the quiet, forested area, near a plant nursery and camping ground.

Videos, a cellphone and a pickup truck were taken.

But of particular concern, the RCMP said, was the theft of a shotgun and ammunition.

The family who live there, two adults and three children who slept through the incident, had not properly secured the weapon.

No arrests have been made and the firearm has not been found.

“This weapon is now in the hands of criminals and most likely on the street,” RCMP Superintendent Byron Boucher said as he recounted the incident yesterday in Vancouver.

Supt. Boucher, the Vancouver Police Department, Attorney-General Wally Oppal and Solicitor-General John Les came together to announce the final results of the provincewide gun amnesty program.

It was British Columbia’s most successful amnesty, Mr. Les said.

Although criminals did not hand in their weapons, police added, more residents than ever got rid of unwanted, potentially unsafe arms such as the one that was stolen in June.

“A lot of the weapons that we took in were unsecured, weren’t properly stored, and that’s one of the main points we’re making,” Supt. Boucher said.

In total, more than 3,200 firearms, 725 other weapons, and almost 100,000 rounds of ammunition were surrendered to police and the RCMP between June 1 and June 30.

“These weapons, of course, are now not available to be used in the commission of crime, nor will be resulting in accidental harm to children or other potential victims,” Mr. Les said.

More than 500 of the firearms collected were handguns, some of which were displayed yesterday.

Police were glad to see a small black Browning pistol come in, with a barrel around three centimetres in diameter. The gun is easily concealable in the small of the back, police said.

B.C. residents also turned in a machine gun in Delta, a semi-automatic submachine gun in Kelowna and a rocket launcher in Burnaby.

The last provincial amnesty lasted six weeks in 1998, and amassed about 2,000 firearms. Toronto’s three-week amnesty in November took in 261 guns.

Vancouver police initiated this year’s program, and, with the support of the Attorney-General and the Solicitor-General, provincial RCMP detachments came on board.

Under the program, sections of the Criminal Code were temporarily waived to allow unregistered or illegal firearms to be surrendered without penalty.

If the weapon had been used in a crime, the amnesty did not apply; however, police have yet to trace any to a felony.

Inspection of the weapons at the crime-detection lab could take months, after which most will be destroyed.