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Amnesty nets over 100 weapons .303 Lee Enfield, Russian sniper rifle included Brent Richter brichter@nsnews.com
THERE are more than a hundred guns and thousands of rounds of ammunition that won’t fall into the wrong hands or be used to hurt someone on the North Shore, thanks to a successful haul in the provincial gun amnesty. Throughout the month of June, police forces around the province offered to come collect any unwanted firearms, no questions asked. North Vancouver RCMP netted90rifles,shotguns,pistols and pellet guns and the West Vancouver Police Department collected 33 guns, contributing to the 1,801 firearms collected provincewide. Neither jurisdiction on the North Shore brought in any heavy weaponry like the machine gun turned over to Kelowna RCMP or military missile picked by Abbotsford police, though there have been some interesting antiques picked up. Among them: a Second World War .303 Lee Enfield belonging to a local NEWS photo Mike Wakefield veteran and a Russian Mosin Nagant sniper rifle. Though WEST Vancouver Police Const. Jeff Palmer holds a 1914 British military-issued Webley .45 calibre handgun — possibly a replica not technically picked up in — just one of over guns picked up by North Shore police during June’s gun amnesty. Scan with Layar for video. the amnesty, West Vancouver is researching the historical value of a 1914 Webley revolver found by kids playing in a wooded area last month. All of the guns will be catalogued and researched before being disassembled for scrap metal. Groups interested in the historical arms will have a chance to request them after guns have had their Brent Richter Forward is warning it would be financially imprudent to sell the firing pins removed. land to private interests. brichter@nsnews.com In many cases, the guns belonged to seniors who no longer can “The message that I get, loud and clear, is ‘Be very careful use them or they were inherited by people who aren’t licensed to SOME North Vancouver school board trustees are when you consider selling something such as a school, because own them, according to Cpl. Richard De Jong, North Vancouver questioning the wisdom off selling unused school you’ll never get it back.’” Forward said. “We’re asking the local RCMP spokesman communities to sell themselves short today for something that properties on the eve of a pivotal school board By collecting the guns, police remove any chance they will be could be worth a lot and be a big community asset long term,” vote. found by a child, stolen in a break-in, or misused in the home. Forward said. “Any time police go to a domestic situation, firearms are Ridgeway Annex is one of several shuttered schools the board The board is convening for a rare July meeting on Tuesday paramount in our thoughts,” De Jong said. “That’s 90 firearms we to decide whether it will go ahead with the $5.1 million-sale of has selected through its Land Learning and Livability public Ridgeway Annex to developer Anthem Properties. See Police page 5 See Worries page 8 But with publicly owned land in scarce supply, trustee Barry
Trustees question school property sales