‘Gun nut’ sentenced for cache

Fully automatic AK-47, replica medieval spiked balls found at Prince George home

PRINCE GEORGE — A Prince George man has been handed a six-month conditional sentence related to the seizure of weapons including firearms and two replica medieval flails — spiked metal balls attached with chains to wooden handles.

Karl Heinz Haus, 55, was also given a 10-year prohibition Monday on owning unrestricted firearms and a lifetime ban on restricted firearms.

Haus pleaded guilty to six charges last July.

During a sentencing hearing in November, the Crown argued for as much as two years behind bars while defence counsel maintained a conditional sentence would be appropriate, partly because Haus’s business, The Pastry Chef, would have to close if he were jailed. He and his wife employ about 15 people.

Much of the provincial court hearing focused on itemizing the weapons RCMP seized from Haus’s home in September 2013.

The Canada Border Services Agency notified police after officers intercepted two packages that originated in Germany and were addressed to Haus. They contained components used to convert an M-16 assault rifle into a fully automatic weapon.

Police seized nine rifles, including a fully automatic M-16 and a fully automatic AK-47 as well as two shotguns and three handguns, two of which were loaded.

Five 100-round-capacity drum magazines, 50 assault rifle magazines capable of holding 30 to 40 bullets and 31,000 rounds of large and small-calibre ammunition were also found.

Four bulletproof vests were illegal because they contained ceramic rifle plates, which provide the highest level of protection and are often used by gangs, though there was no such link in Haus’s case.

Most of the items were found in his garage but some were uncovered in bedrooms, the laundry room and the living room.

Serial numbers on two of the fully automatic rifles had been defaced and rivets on the magazines, which had limited their capacity to five rounds, had been removed.

Some were empty or held just a few rounds while others held as many as 44 bullets.

Court heard RCMP also found a handgun, with a barrel large enough to make it a prohibited weapon, hidden inside a case made to look like a book.

Police also discovered a bag of 17 shotgun shells. Twelve of them were “bolo” rounds, containing balls connected together by a wire. They turned out to be lawful, court heard, but five rounds of razor-sharp needles were prohibited.

Ammunition seized ranged from bullets that can be fired in 9-mm handguns to AK-47s and M-16s, but the Crown considered them a neutral factor because a licence is not needed to possess ammunition in Canada. Buying it requires a licence, and Haus had one.

Similarly, the flails — sometimes incorrectly known as morning stars — were part of a selection of medieval armour and weapons mounted on the home’s walls.

They are prohibited in Canada, but Haus brought them in through customs and paid duty so the Crown did not pursue charges.

Crown lawyer Geoffrey McDonald described Haus’s case as in the middle range between an outlaw carrying a weapon to aid in committing a crime and someone who made a regulatory error.

Haus was characterized as a “gun nut” and a “hoarder,” but otherwise law-abiding and a pillar of the community.

Court heard he typically donates more than $20,000 worth of food to various causes every year.