Aggressive violent offender gets gun permit- shoots cop
Slain constable's brother criticizes firearms permit in eulogy
Last Updated Tue, 20 Dec 2005 17:29:57 EST
CBC News
The brother of a slain Quebec constable has delivered a stinging criticism of authorities who gave a firearms permit to the suspect in her killing, while speaking at her funeral in Laval.
Thousands of mourners, including about 3,000 police officers from across the continent, packed into a church and a nearby college arena on Tuesday afternoon for the service of Const. Valérie Gignac.
Mourners pass Gignac's casket, Tuesday
Gignac, a 25-year-old who had been on the Laval force for four years, was shot while on a routine call on Dec. 14 and later died in hospital.
FROM DEC. 15, 2005: Man accused of shooting officer was under firearms ban ((A 40-year-old man with a history of disputes with police has been arraigned on a charge of first-degree murder in the shooting death of Const. Valérie Gignac in Laval, north of Montreal.
François Pepin had been charged repeatedly with issuing death threats and harassing police officers and court workers. He was under a 10-year court order barring him from possessing firearms, the CBC's Amanda Pfeffer reports from Laval.
François Pepin
Despite the ban, which dated back to 1999, he had asked for, and was granted, permission to use a gun for hunting during the fall season. ))
Her casket – topped with her police cap on a blue velvet pillow and a huge bouquet of white roses – sat at the front of the St-Vincent-de-Paul Church.
Steve Gignac, the constable's brother, was one of the first to speak.
Before delivering a passionate eulogy, he criticized officials who gave the man charged in the shooting, François Pepin, permission to use a gun for hunting – even though he was under a court-ordered firearms ban.
"When we recognize that people have behavioural problems, that they're aggressive and violent, and we tell them that they're too violent to have a firearm, it's difficult to conceive of how they could be allowed to use a firearm," Gignac said in French.
He said he hoped his sister's death would spur officials to be tougher and more cautious when making decisions in similar cases.
"We must avoid having a repetition of this kind of tragedy."
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