Prelim hearing into weapons case begins

Apreliminary hearing for a couple of Cardston businessmen charged with several weaponsrelated offences has begun in a Lethbridge courtroom. The hearing, which began Thursday and is scheduled to conclude Monday, will determine whether there is enough evidence to commit the accused, Dean Dan Sommerfeldt and Todd Dean Sommerfeldt, to stand trial.

Several witnesses are expected to testify for the Crown during the three-day hearing, which began with testimony by an Alberta firearms officer under the Canadian Firearms Program. Evidence presented during the hearing cannot be published under a court-ordered publication ban.

Dean, 59, and Todd, 32, who own K&D Implements in Cardston, are each charged with trafficking a firearm, possession of a weapon for the purpose of trafficking, careless storage of a restricted weapon, transfer of a weapon and/or ammunition without authority, failure to report a lost weapon, unauthorized possession of a weapon, and knowingly possessing a prohibited weapon while unauthorized to do so.

ALERT Lethbridge organized crime and gang team and the RCMP National Weapons Enforcement Support Team conducted a five-month investigation into K&D Implements in Cardston, and on May 29 of last year they searched the business with help from Cardston RCMP and Lethbridge police.

The entire store's inventory at the time of 1,000 guns and one million rounds of ammunition was seized, police reported. The seizure included 49 handguns, 972 long guns, 270 kilograms of gun powder, 446 kg of Tannerite, a binary explosive material, and 12,000 firearm primers. The estimated value of the seized items is between $1.2 and $1.4 million.

The investigation began after police received a number of complaints from the public. ALERT reported that a business was selling firearms and ammunition illegally and failed to ensure that firearms purchasers provided valid Possession Acquisition Licences.

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