Give back flood victims' guns

[maryjane48]

Different topic - Would state of emergency powers allow them to follow up on any other illegal offences they may have observed during their searches for occupants. Say for example they search a house and discover a grow op.

if you want the charter thrown out why not? :)

[Steve-O]

It's ok to say you don't know if you don't know.

A state of emergency is a temporary suspension of some charter rights if I'm not mistaken.

[maryjane48]

Under the current Emergency Act a state of emergency can also be declared by provincial, territorial, and municipal governments.[7] Since Canada's federal government and any of its provincial governments can suspend for five years at a time the Charter rights to fundamental freedoms in section 2, to legal rights in sections 7 through 14, and to equality rights in section 15 by a simple majority vote of the legislature which invokes the Charter of Rights and Freedoms' override clause, section 33, emergency powers can always be very easily created even without using the Emergency Act It Has to Be Voted on to Suspend Charter Rights

[WhatThe]

They are not looking for guns, if they see one not locked up then will they take it. Calgary news has reported that they have notes whhere they got the guns and then eill return them.Going nuts over this shows how imature some people are.

First post and already stirring the pot eh?
Cops look for anything they can use to exercise their power within the criminal code, it's what they are trained to do. Dollars to donuts these weapons weren't lying on the kitchen table but most likely in the closet, under the bed or in a drawer, you know, where victims may be hiding.

[Woodenhead]

Idea: Replace "guns" with "grow ops".

They have to search homes for people in distress, which I have no problem with.

My position: return the guns and charge the owners with whatever fine is relevant.

[maryjane48]

Yes return Guns But No Charges

[my5cents]

They are not looking for guns, if they see one not locked up then will they take it. Calgary news has reported that they have notes whhere they got the guns and then eill return them.Going nuts over this shows how imature some people are.

Well for starters the RCMP maintain that they only seized guns that were insecure "out in plain view", not "not locked up" as you have stated.

Does it sound plausible that the RCMP located "several hundred guns" that were "out in plain view".

I think it is reasonable, in a free and democratic society, to question the actions of a police force that states they will be consulting with crown counsel with respect to firearms that are seized in a warrantless search from private dwellings. I don't see where maturity or lack thereof enters into this equation.

[Catz]

I do have a problem with this having been evacuated before. If you are not looking for people then carry on. To search my house when I am asked to leave 'now', is wrong. We can deal with things later, but when I am told to go now, I get the kids, the animals and paper works I need if I get a chance. having people wander through my house makes me uncomfortable.

[alfred2]

5 cents read post properly, isaid unlocked guns.

[my5cents]

5 cents read post properly, isaid unlocked guns.

alfred : Good advice. You said "if they see unlocked guns", and that's what I was replying to.

The RCMP said they only seized guns that were :

a) out in plain sight and
b) not locked up. (their word "insecure")

Note the "and"

The main issue from the way the RCMP stated it was they seized firearms that were in plain sight, that were insecure, not weapons that were insecure that they had to search for (ie, not in plain sight)

My question was, "Is it reasonable that the RCMP, while searching flooded homes for people in distress, would see several hundred guns out in plain sight." (ie, they weren't searching homes for guns, unlocked or otherwise) For argument sake ignore if they were locked up or not locked up.

The RCMP maintain each firearm was in "plain sight". "Plain sight" is seeing something without opening up a cupboard or drawer or moving anything covering the item.

This isn't a case of looking in a cupboard and "seeing" and insecure firearm.

[my5cents]

Calgary Herald -

HIGH RIVER — RCMP revealed Thursday that officers have seized a “substantial amount” of firearms from homes in the evacuated town of High River.

“We just want to make sure that all of those things are in a spot that we control, simply because of what they are,” said Sgt. Brian Topham.

“People have a significant amount of money invested in firearms ... so we put them in a place that we control and that they’re safe.”

That news didn’t sit well with a crowd of frustrated residents who had planned to breach a police checkpoint northwest of the town as an evacuation order stretched into its eighth day.

Read more: http://www.calgaryherald.com/Hell+Resid ... z2Xj2jVjMN

and people don't have a significant amount of money invested in other possessions ?

and from the National Post -

On Friday afternoon, when Mounties responding to the recent major floods in southern Alberta sent out a media release concerning the force's removal of firearms from flooded-out homes, the tone had changed.

Gone were the Royal Canadian Mounted Police's prior references to firearms having been "seized." Now it was all the Mounties "taking possession" of firearms.

Also absent were all the earlier allusions to the RCMP having taken guns that had been "unsafely stored." Now it was all about finding firearms that were "in plain view" and the force had "no way of assuring [would] remain secure."

Read more :

http://fullcomment.nationalpost.com/201 ... l-of-guns/

[maryjane48]

Change Of story But Still a joke

[Omnitheo]

If people have insecure guns laying around, it's a good thing the RCMP collected them so that they could be recollected by the owners, as opposed to looters and homeless people going into houses and getting a hold of them.

I'm pretty sure police weren't kicking down doors and breaking safes in search of guns. They are looking for victims and safety hazards, and a loose gun is a safety hazard.

[my5cents]

If people have insecure guns laying around, it's a good thing the RCMP collected them so that they could be recollected by the owners, as opposed to looters and homeless people going into houses and getting a hold of them.

I'm pretty sure police weren't kicking down doors and breaking safes in search of guns. They are looking for victims and safety hazards, and a loose gun is a safety hazard.

Well the RCMP were getting into these homes, and I doubt every home in High River was unlocked. I'm not saying they were "kicking down doors", but they were breaking into "secure" homes, then while inside these (formerly) secure homes they discovered guns, however,,,,,, Do you really think that in a small town like High River the RCMP would find "hundreds" of gun in "plain sight" insecure or not ?

[Clipper]

[quote="Omnitheo"]If people have insecure guns laying around, it's a good thing the RCMP collected them so that they could be recollected by the owners, as opposed to looters and homeless people going into houses and getting a hold of them.

I'm pretty sure police weren't kicking down doors and breaking safes in search of guns. They are looking for victims and safety hazards, and a loose gun is a safety hazard.[/q


Access to High River was blocked by RCMP barriers (AND a spike belt!) and the town was being patrolled by the RCMP and the Army so how do the "looters" and "homeless people" get into the houses?
Being homeless automatically makes you a looter or trespasser?
So how did the RCMP gain entry; keys??? Locksmith???And did they re-secure the houses after they "gained entry"?

I would think anybody who had to move their guns would also have the foresight to lock the door behind them as they left.
Anything other than possibly (remotely possible) a "bear gun" would have been left unloaded with no ammo readily available as well so where does the public safety issue come in since the utilities were already shut off.
I can't see anyone remaining in a house that has suffered structural damage either; plus the army had boats and there were helicopters rescuing stranded residents as well.
I think it's good to see the police action is being questioned