Opinion
Canada – -(AmmoLand.com)- Hundreds of firearms are stolen from police every year and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police ( RCMP ) no longer tracks them. While civilians routinely face charges for improper storage, police officers don’t.
Canadian police love to blame criminal shootings on “domestically-sourced” firearms. What they don’t tell us is many of those “domestically-sourced” guns are coming from police cruisers.
Worse, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police don’t even keep track of how many guns are stolen from police.
August 8, 2018, Saskatoon, SK. A man broke into a parked RCMP cruiser and stole a police-issued handgun and ammunition.
May 7, 2018, Calgary, AB. A thief broke into a Calgary Police Service recruit’s truck and stole her gear bag, including a locked case containing her training pistol and three (prohibited) 15-round magazines.
April 26, 2018, Kenora, ON. A man stole a rifle, an AR-15, from a marked Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) cruiser.
April 4, 2015, Calgary, AB. A thief broke into a Calgary police constable’s personal vehicle and stole his Colt C8 semi-automatic patrol carbine (a politically correct name for an AR-15) and two spare (prohibited) magazines.
“There is no reason in my mind why an officer would take this firearm home,” Calgary Police Superintendent Kevan Stuart told Global News shortly after the theft.
“Sometime after Oct. 23, 2013.” A man stole an OPP-issued Sig Sauer P229 handgun and three (prohibited) magazines from the trunk of a detective’s vehicle. The detective has no idea when the gun was stolen but did not report the theft until December 12, 2013. While Ottawa police notified the OPP about the stolen gun 17 days earlier, they did not start their investigation until the detective reported it.
Thankfully, in most cases when police firearms are stolen, nobody is injured –– but that’s not always the case.
On October 24, 2015, a man broke into an RCMP vehicle parked in Winnipeg RCMP Sgt. Christopher McCuen’s driveway stole his loaded duty handgun and shot 16-year-old Calli Vanderaa in the chest. She recovered from the serious physical damage but still suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety and depression.
Winnipeg police said they “found no grounds” to charge Sgt. McCuen with improper storage of a weapon.
Calli Vanderaa filed a negligence lawsuit against McCuen and the RCMP for her pain and suffering.
In their motion to have the lawsuit dismissed, McCuen and the RCMP claimed they do not owe Calli Vanderaa and her father “a prima facie private law duty of care.”
This suggests they believe:
- they don’t have a legal duty or are immune from the legal requirement to safely store police firearms, and
- they aren’t responsible if their improperly stored firearms are stolen and used to in violent crimes
Access to Information (ATIP) requests shows 124 firearms and other weapons were lost or stolen from the RCMP from January 1 to June 3, 2015.
RCMP documents obtained by Dennis Young in 2011 showed 428 firearms were lost or stolen from our police forces. In 2017 he repeated his information request.
The RCMP said they no longer keep track of them.
Sources:
· https://dennisryoung.ca/2017/07/18/rcmp-unable-to-find-records-on-guns-stolen-from-police-forces-agencies-in-canada/
· https://dennisryoung.ca/2016/05/31/rcmp-release-list-of-124-firearms-they-lost-or-had-stolen-from-them/
· https://saskatoonpolice.ca/news/2018607
· https://dailyhive.com/calgary/calgary-police-service-gear-stolen-training-gun
· https://www.trcctb.com/2018/04/27/kenora-opp-gun-stolen-arrest-made/
· https://globalnews.ca/news/1922229/patrol-rifle-stolen-out-of-calgary-police-members-car/
· https://ottawacitizen.com/news/local-news/opp-takes-weeks-to-investigate-gun-stolen-from-open-trunk-of-officers-car
· https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/christopher-mccuen-stolen-police-gun-shooting-1.4419372
· https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/rcmp-officer-charged-teen-shot-with-gun-1.3733053
· https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/mountie-gun-lawsuit-defence-calli-vanderaa-1.3712475
· https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/local/cop-denies-duty-to-safeguard-gun-374084311.html
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I rode for years with a retired Mountie, injured on the job and mustered out early. He was an old school Canadian LEO, a big rangy fellow, which meant they kept the peace, period, and were less hamstrung by the PC trends that have taken over law enforcement in Canada (and here!). Those same trends have resulted in the relaxation of hiring standards in order to have a “rainbow” police force, such as 5′ 4″ 110 pound females, minorities barely knowledgeable of Canada’s history, you know the picture. Consequently, before the PC infestation, the RCMP were much more respected by… Read more »
Well whaddya speck ennyway?
Draconian gun and gun storage laws for the mundanes
No restrictions whatever on the Only Ones.
Complacency on the part of the Only Ones such that they are borderline careless with their firearms
Opportunistic citizens not wanting to comply with all the laws regarding arms, yet wanting them at low cost; off books,
THIS is the inevitable playout.
This point’s to the saying when guns are outlawed only outlaws will have guns. I have been telling anti gun leftist for over 30 years that if they ban guns, but the police have guns that I will have a gun. They always say no you wont they will be outlawed. To which I say again if the police have them then I will also. they never get the implication. You will never get rid of firearms if people want are need them.
“Only police can be trusted with guns”
“Because they have all that training”
I think the statement, “not my country, not my problem,” is being said without really thinking about the full meaning It is our problem. While the media and polititions have our attentions focusing on our southern boarders, the illegals are walking across our northern boarders from who knows where. Just my opinion.
@Larry G, The article is about a firearms issue that occurs entirely inside the Sovereign nation of Canada. You bring up and illegal alien issue that only becomes a problem when and person alien to this nation crosses the US border without permission from this nation. None of that has anything to do with the article, the US, or the concept of standing. So to be clear, a firearms issue that occurs entirely within Canada is not my problem, and I have no standing to complain. Neither do you. If an alien enters the US, without permission, then that illegal… Read more »
Bad guys want guns, They WILL get guns, As for the police not tracking their missing weapons, If it where “John Q. Public” you can bet they would have new living quarters.
Another example of do as I say not as I do=Liberal Attitude
Sounds like Keystone Cops and Dudley Doright are less responsible than average Canadian citizens. Seems like whatever disease they have is starting to infect our high levels of Federal law enforcement. The clowns think that they are above the law. Time to purge the ranks of these scum before it filters down to the worker bees.
Canada has never developed a “responsible gun culture” but until their recent liberal/socialist governments attracting criminal elements refugees they have not had “crime problems.”
So then RCMP recruits from people who have no security gun culture.
They also do not have a Bill of Rights for their subjects.
Do your homework Jim. Here in Canada we do have a repatriated constitution and a Bill of Rights. We also have a well de eloped responsible-use firearms culture that goes back hundreds of years. Our current laws function well although improvements can be made to eliminate the useless regulations that do nothing to protect the public. The CCFR and other organizations are working on that.
Let’s see how Canada is described “What are Canadian rights? Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms forms the first part of the Constitution Act, 1982. … the freedom to move around and live within Canada, and to leave Canada. legal rights such as the right to life, liberty and security. equality rights.” and “The Canadian Bill of Rights (French: Déclaration canadienne des droits) is a federal statute and bill of rights enacted by Parliament of Canada on August 10, 1960. It provides Canadians with certain quasi-constitutional rights at Canadian federal law in relation… Read more »
@jh45gun Macklin, Good job. Those poor Canadian losers. Why would they even join the Canadian military to defend a political state like that?
Canada needs a conservative prime minister/president,this is all stupid rubbish designed by liberal idiots who want to destroy Canada.
Another real life example of why police and military should be the only people allowed to have weapons… NOT!
Canada is such a police state. But … not my country, not my problem.
@wildbill, But it becomes your problem when cowardly liberal progressive nut jobs start false advertising of how wonder gun control is working in Australia, England or Canada and low information voters decide to add more of those loons to our ruling class. Invest in lead and brass, keep your powder dry because if they succeed in sabotaging Trump’s presidency, it’s going to get ugly.
@ Wild Bill I agree with what you say but if we are not careful we may end up just like them as subjects of the crown Cuomo.
Stealing from the police…that’s ballsy!
Seems like they get away with it
No mention of number of arrests
My first thought also! Maybe the criminals have figured out that the canadian law enforcement is more intent on keeping people from knowing they lost a weapon that they don’t investigate so (they think) no one will know. I wouldn’t put it past some of these cops to have sold the weapon for extra cash and just claim that it was stolen. Sure seems like an AWFUL LOT of weapons being stolen from them each year – if these cops were punished (fined and pay for the lost weapon), you’d see the thefts drop to near zero!
@Doc, Maybe the thieves were too “cracked up” to realize that it was an RCMP cruiser!
Well WB; OR they KNEW it was an RCMP cruiser and KNEW they were SURE to find a Firearm either hidden in the passenger compartment or “hidden” in the trunk (Also called the “BOOT” in Canada and UK English)
Nah. the Mounties in particular, and in general all coppers up north of the 49th, have this mindset that they are always right, invulnerable, and occupy a special class of person. As such, they seem to behave often as though the rest of the planet, or at least Canada, revolve about them. So, WHY should they take any special care in something as mundane as firearm storage? WE know what we’re doing. Nothing will come of my laziness, misplaced trust, lack of due diligence. Not ballsy at all. LE up that way are generally so laid back and complacent they’re… Read more »