Man’s restricted guns ‘seem to have vanished’
Judge rejects defendant’s theory weapons were either seized or stolen
At least 30 restricted guns purchased by a Courtenay man are still missing, even though he was convicted of several firearms charges almost six months ago.
B.C. Supreme Court Justice Robin Baird noted how disturbing it is that so many firearms purchased by Bryce Cameron McDonald between 2009 and 2013 have disappeared without a trace.
“Upwards of 30 restricted weapons from Mr. McDonald’s arsenal seem to have vanished,” Baird said in his ruling in April, in which he convicted McDonald of 12 charges. The ruling was released this week.
B.C.’s anti-gang squad — the Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit — raided McDonald’s Courtenay house, as well as a storage locker he rented, in December 2013.
Officers found just 19 firearms, restricted and unrestricted, even though records showed McDonald had purchased 49 restricted guns since getting his licence in the fall of 2009.
When McDonald testified in his own defence at his trial, he told Baird that all the missing firearms were in fact in his home when the police searched it.
He suggested that police either took the guns without document- ing them or that his house was robbed while he was still in custody because police had left the door unlocked.
“I am afraid that I must reject these implications,” Baird said. “First of all, neither of Mr. McDonald’s theories was put to the various police officers who testified about the search. Secondly, I cannot think of a single reason why the police might have seized the firearms in question and not accounted for them or recommended additional charges.”
Baird also pointed to a comment that McDonald made in a videotaped interview after he was first arrested.
When asked about the missing guns, McDonald said “I know” and appeared to agree it was disturbing the guns were gone.
“I find as a fact that the police did not find the vast majority of firearms registered to Mr. McDonald because they were no longer in his possession.
“Mr. McDonald alone knows what really happened to them,” Baird said. “I shudder to think where these firearms are likely to have gone,” Baird said.
McDonald is scheduled to be back in court Nov. 7 for sentencing.
Staff Sgt. Lindsey Houghton of the Combined Forces Special Enforcement Agency said police were happy to take so many guns off the street during the investigation.
“We seized not only potentially deadly drugs and drug trafficking paraphernalia, but also thousands of rounds of ammunition and various firearms and firearms parts, including a loaded 9mm handgun and sawed-off shotgun,” Houghton said.
At the time of McDonald’s arrest, police said he had affiliations to at least one organized crime group.