Man given eight-plus years for gun in car

A Calgary man with a history of violence has been handed an 81/2-year prison term for keeping a loaded, sawed-off shotgun under the driver’s seat of his vehicle.

Provincial court Judge Mark Tyndale on Thursday agreed with Crown prosecutor Karuna Ramakrishnan that a 91/2-year sentence was warranted, but reduced it because David Timothy Scott Law is already serving a three-year prison term.

Law, 32, was handed that sentence in February, for possession of a loaded prohibited firearm, one of the charges he faced before Tyndale.

“I have attempted to arrive at a global sentence which is proportional to the gravity of the offences and to the degree of responsibility of the offender,” Tyndale said in a written ruling. “In my view, the possession of the loaded prohibited firearm was extremely grave, putting at risk the safety of any member of the public who might have had the misfortune to cross Mr. Law’s path.

“Further, the safety of the police officers who apprehended Mr. Law was seriously endangered.”

In a search of Law’s car during a traffic stop on April 19, 2016, police found a double-barrel shotgun with the stock cut off to form a pistol grip under the driver’s seat. Four more live rounds and a knife were also recovered.

The judge earlier convicted Law of 13 charges in connection with the traffic stop. At the time of his arrest, Law was on bail for other offences, and under three separate lifetime weapons bans.

Defence lawyer Andrea Urquhart sought a three-year sentence and said she will be appealing both the punishment and Law’s conviction.