428 Firearms go missing from Canadian Police

[Modelexis]

http://nfa.ca/sites/default/files/RC...om-Police2.pdf



Canada’s National Firearms Association Media Release 28 September 2011
For Immediate Release
428 FIREARMS GO MISSING FROM POLICE ARSENALS, RCMP REPORT

Police should be asking, “How many of our guns have fallen into the wrong hands?”

A recent Access to Information Act request found that the RCMP acknowledges that 428 firearms have been lost by or stolen from the RCMP, other police services and public agencies in Canada. “The police are quick to point accusing fingers at law-abiding gun owners who have their firearms stolen from them but aren’t so quick to admit their failure to keep their own firearms out of the hands of criminals,” said National Firearms Association President, Sheldon Clare.

This new information was obtained from the RCMP through an Access to Information Act request submitted as a collaborative effort by two independent researchers, Gary A. Mauser, Professor Emeritus, Simon Fraser University and Dennis R. Young, retired Parliamentary Assistant to Garry Breitkreuz, MP. The RCMP does not regularly report information on lost or stolen firearms to Parliament.

Summary of the number of firearms missing or stolen from the police in Canada:
- Firearms Lost by and Stolen from the RCMP = 32
- Firearms Lost by and Stolen from other Police Services = 316
- Firearms Lost by and Stolen from other Public Service Agencies = 80
For more details: http://www.nfa.ca/sites/default/file...rom-Police.pdf

No time frame was given in the RCMP’s response to the ATI request, but it appears that these firearms were lost or stolen since the Police and Public Agency Regulations came into force in October 2008 and all firearms in police inventories had to be registered with the RCMP by October 31, 2009. The information in this ATI does not include the numbers of firearms stolen from the military as the RCMP doesn't collect that information.

Back in 2002, MP Garry Breitkreuz, MP, submitted a similar ATI request and as of September 2003, the RCMP reported 17 firearms stolen, 3 lost and 88 others that they were still “tracing”. As in the recent request, the RCMP gave no time frame. Since the Police and Public Agency Regulations came into force, the RCMP has been able to report the number of firearms that have been stolen from other police services in Canada.

More information on Police and Public Agencies can be examined at this location:
http://www.rcmp-grc.gc.ca/cfp-pcaf/i.../index-eng.htm

“Many police have been fixated on firearms being stolen from law-abiding gun owners, charging many of them with “careless storage” following a firearms theft rather than putting the blame and focus of their investigations where it rightfully belongs, with the criminals who are stealing the guns. Most police and law-abiding gun owners are storing their firearms properly but these new statistics prove that criminals will always find a way to foil the most secure gun safes and locking devices. It’s time for police to stop treating law-abiding gun owners as part of the problem and work with us to help catch the real bad guys out there,” concluded Mr. Clare.


-------------------------------------------------------

I can go to jail if I have a firearm stolen due to improper storage, but I doubt we will see a any police officers have any action taken for losing their guns.
The report should also list the names of the officers responsible for the firearms in question.

[FraserB]

Wasn't there a cop in Calgary a few years ago who left his firearm and associated ammunition sitting in a briefcase on his front seat and it was stolen?

[broken_legs]

If only police officers had to take the same precautions and training as normal law abiding citizens...

The police should have to take a test and security check to get a firearms acquisition and possession license and be forced to walk around with their handguns unloaded and trigger locked in a secure locked case with ammunition locked up separately.

They should also have to petition the Chief Firearms Officer in their respective province, first, and attain a permit to legally and safely transport their weapons to and from the only place which they should be allowed to use them, an approved firing range, which they hold a current membership at.

Furthermore, an electronic registry of said firearms will form an invisible kryptonite barrier to stop them from being stolen, stop criminals from using them for crimes, save lives and most importantly will keep police safe from themselves.


amen.

[Modelexis]

^ That wasn't my point, my point was that emphasis should be put on the thief that has stolen the gun and not on the human mistake of not having it locked up in a 10" thick steel vault.

This only shows how hypocritical it is for police to charge someone for unsafe storage in order to prevent guns from going missing, while the police as an entity has not solved this problem of losing a gun.

[e31]

You can be sure that the firearms stolen from the police (presumably more handguns than anything else) have a greater likelihood of being used in criminal activity.

- Firearms Lost by and Stolen from other Police Services = 316. How many of these were "lost" by the Vancouver Police, just curious?

[CUG]

maybe they should register tehm

[Tomaz]

It's all good folks. I just wanted my collection back. lol

Seriously, this baffles me. Of all the individuals out there to lose their guns, the police lose that many? I can also assume that they would mostly be restricted/prohibited firearms.

I understand that there is a difference in numbers between RCMP and municipal police, but the gap between the two make me chuckle. From what I understand, RCMP have much better training.

Bloody retarded.

[sh0ko]

u wonder how many of these were taken by the police

[cam_wmh]

Originally posted by CUG
maybe they should register tehm

lol.

[Sugarphreak]

...

[illtim3d]

Originally posted by Modelexis
^ That wasn't my point, my point was that emphasis should be put on the thief that has stolen the gun and not on the human mistake of not having it locked up in a 10" thick steel vault.

This only shows how hypocritical it is for police to charge someone for unsafe storage in order to prevent guns from going missing, while the police as an entity has not solved this problem of losing a gun.

Police are hypocritical !!!!! Shocking news!

[Modelexis]

Originally posted by illtim3d
Police are hypocritical !!!!! Shocking news!

I was using the story as a way of illustrating the hypocrisy to people that maybe haven't been exposed to these sorts of truths.
You already get it, so good for you, but not everyone is on the same level of awareness as you.

[frizzlefry]

I remember there was a news story from Vancouver I think, about a cop who brain farted and left his assault rifle on the trunk of his car when he went into court. Somebody took a picture, posted to failblog, and hung around to make sure no one took it.

[googe]

easy, just check the gun registry

[2007RS4]

Shocking news... Police officers not incompetent whatsoever.

[freshprince1]

Originally posted by Modelexis
^ That wasn't my point, my point was that emphasis should be put on the thief that has stolen the gun and not on the human mistake of not having it locked up in a 10" thick steel vault.

This only shows how hypocritical it is for police to charge someone for unsafe storage in order to prevent guns from going missing, while the police as an entity has not solved this problem of losing a gun.

I don't often agree with you, but on this issue, we're bro's.

[interlude]

Originally posted by broken_legs
If only police officers had to take the same precautions and training as normal law abiding citizens...

The police should have to take a test and security check to get a firearms acquisition and possession license and be forced to walk around with their handguns unloaded and trigger locked in a secure locked case with ammunition locked up separately.

They should also have to petition the Chief Firearms Officer in their respective province, first, and attain a permit to legally and safely transport their weapons to and from the only place which they should be allowed to use them, an approved firing range, which they hold a current membership at.

Furthermore, an electronic registry of said firearms will form an invisible kryptonite barrier to stop them from being stolen, stop criminals from using them for crimes, save lives and most importantly will keep police safe from themselves.


amen.

[Merritt]

So are these cops gonna to get fired anytime soon?

[Modelexis]

Originally posted by Merritt
So are these cops gonna to get fired anytime soon?

http://www.thestar.com/mobile/NEWS/article/1063373

While preparing for retirement in 2010, Const. Philip McQuay informed his supervisor he lost his baton “sometime over the past 25 years.”

“I got a feeling it’s probably somewhere in my house. I just can’t find it,” a now retired McQuay said when reached at his Mississauga home. He said he had been out of uniform for several years and stored the baton in a safe place at home. At some point, he forgot where his safe place was.

“If I would have reported it a long time ago had I looked for it, they probably would have criticized, reported, put something on my record. But because I’m retiring in a month’s time, what good is a disciplinary action going to do?”

The case was ruled “solved.” The baton is still missing.

In 1999, veteran Peel Sgt. John Trainor was charged with stealing a sniper rifle from the force’s training bureau. He was suspended with pay and retired a short time later. In 2001, he pleaded guilty to two firearm-related charges and the theft charge was withdrawn. The rifle was never found.

...a 2010 occurrence report shows an officer was mistakenly given two Smith & Wesson pistols, one of which is now missing. Police suspect the second gun was internally destroyed, although there are no records, according to the occurrence report.

In October 2006, Const. Matthew Osborne left his gun belt out inside 22 Division in Brampton before leaving for a week off work. When he returned, the belt — and the pepper spray, baton, and two 11-round magazines it carried — had been taken. The weapons were never recovered.