Seven guns and approximately 70 rounds of ammunition were turned over to Powell River RCMP as part of the provincial government’s latest roundup of unwanted weapons.
Across BC, the amnesty found its mark with police collecting 1,801 firearms, 155 other weapons and more than 30,000 rounds of ammunition for destruction.
Of the seven guns collected in Powell River, one was a restricted handgun.
“The misuse of firearms can take many forms,” said Deputy Commissioner Craig Callens, commanding officer of the BC RCMP. “By calling police and arranging for their safe disposal of their unwanted weapons and ammunition, thousands of British Columbians have helped to prevent potentially dozens of dangerous incidents.”
According to the ministry of justice, the goal of the program was to encourage British Columbians to safely dispose of unwanted weapons that might otherwise fall into the hands of criminals, children or others. Police collected a range of weapons from high-powered rifles to cross-bows and pellet and replica guns.
The amnesty did not apply to weapons that had been used in crimes.
Some of the more notable items collected included a machine gun received by Kelowna RCMP, a Lee-Enfield .303 rifle from WWII, bayonets from the 1880s collected by Maple Ridge RCMP and a six-foot long missile, turned in by a relative of a person who reportedly kept it as a souvenir from a tour of duty overseas.
The numbers of weapons surrendered has fluctuated over the years since the first amnesty was held. Back-to-back programs in 1997 and 1998 yielded an average of 2,500 firearms and 100,000 rounds of ammunition. In 2006, the number surrendered rose to more than 3,200 plus another 725 unwanted weapons, while the number of rounds was relatively stable at 96,500.
According to the RCMP, about 5.3 per cent of British Columbians have a firearms licence, slightly below the national average of 5.7 per cent.
