JOURNAL AIMS FOR GUN DATA
FOI request brings police list to light
The FN Minimi is a type of light machine gun known as a squad automatic weapon. Manufactured in Belgium, it can fire hundreds of rounds per minute and has seen action in dozens of wars.
The Minimi is a battlefield weapon. But, for whatever reason, police found one in Edmonton two years ago.
The machine gun is perhaps the most fearsome of the 1,213 firearms listed on an internal Edmonton Police Service seizure database obtained by Postmedia through a freedom of information request.
Edmonton police regularly warn about the surge in firearms on city streets. But besides the occasional weapons seizure that makes the news, the public has been left to wonder what types of guns police are actually encountering.
Now, Postmedia has created a public database of every firearm city police seized from 2016 to 2017. The database can be found at https://edmontonjournal.com/news/crime/edmonton-police-crime-gun-seizures-2016-2017. It includes the make, model and calibre of each gun, as well as the authority police used to seize it.
A few years ago, guns were uncommon in Edmonton, said Maurice Brodeur, a former Edmonton police officer.
“You’d get an incident with a gun, everyone was talking about it,” he said. “It was a big deal. Now, it’s Tuesday.”
JUMP IN SEIZURES
Between 2012 and 2017, Edmonton police recorded a 39-per-cent rise in firearms seizures and a 78-per-cent increase in firearms-related injuries to civilians.
Police typically seize firearms for one of four reasons: because the gun was used in a Criminal Code offence, because the gun was used in a bylaw offence, because the person doesn’t have a licence, or because they pose a safety threat.
Sgt. Eric Stewart, who leads the city police guns and gangs unit, said officers might find an unregistered rifle during a traffic stop, or a pistol during a drug seizure. Domestic violence and mental health calls are other common sources of firearm seizures.
“Some guy might own 50 rifles legitimately but be involved in a very serious domestic,” said Stewart. “We’ll remove all those firearms by authorizations and those will stay in our (statistics).”
Rifles and shotguns were the most common crime guns, accounting for about 50 per cent and 25 per cent of all seizures, respectively. Canada classifies most rifles and shotguns as “non-restricted” firearms, meaning people with a possession and acquisition licence can own and transport them with few limitations.
By far the most common gun seized was the SKS, a semi-automatic rifle initially manufactured in the Soviet Union. In 2016-2017, police seized 68 Sks-style rifles, which typically hold five rounds and can be acquired at nearly any gun shop.
Pistols — including semi-automatics and revolvers — made up the remaining one-quarter of seizures. All handguns in Canada are either prohibited or restricted firearms, available only to those with specific licences. Typically, they can only be transported between a firing range and home.
During the two-year period covered by the data, police seized 14 1911A1s, making it the most common handgun. Based on the iconic U.S. army .45 calibre, most were made by Chinese arms manufacturer Norinco.
Three of the seized firearms were classified as machine guns: the Minimi, a Sten Mark II and a Suomi 1931.
‘NEEDLE IN A HAYSTACK’
For police who investigate gun crimes, tracking firearms can range from relatively simple to impossible.
Stewart said restricted firearms have to be registered with Canada’s chief firearms officer (CFO), an arm’s length agency of the RCMP. When a handgun is manufactured, it’s given a serial number that allows police to trace it from owner to owner all the way back to the factory. The CFO is required to approve any restricted firearms sale, Stewart said.
That all goes out the window if the serial number is defaced, Stewart said.
Non-restricted firearms are more difficult to track. Since the end of the federal long-gun registry, police have no one-stop shop for finding the owner of a rifle or shotgun.
“It’s like trying to find a needle in a haystack with the non-restricted side of it,” Stewart said.