By Dominic Abassi

Nanaimo RCMP set to round-up unwanted guns during firearms amnesty

Sep 24, 2016 | 12:41 AM

NANAIMO — For the first time in three years the B.C. government is holding a firearms amnesty.

During the last one in 2013 Nanaimo residents weren’t shy about getting rid of their unwanted firearms, weapons and ammunition. Nearly 10 per cent of all firearms turned in across the province were collected by the Nanaimo detachment.

“In 2013 we had quite a few military paraphernalia get turned in,” says Nanaimo RCMP Sgt. Sheryl Armstrong. “We had an SS Luger still in its original holster, as well as a Centennial firearm.”

Armstrong says about 150 of the 1,801 firearms collected province-wide came from Nanaimo. She says a lot of the weapons come from people who came back from the war and didn’t know how to deal with them. Some of the older firearms were turned over to the military museum, according to Armstrong.

The province states in a new release that the amnesty, which runs for the entire month of October, extends to even undocumented or prohibited firearms and ammunition. The goal is to keep the unwanted guns and weapons from falling into the wrong hands, according to the government release.

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Armstrong says there are some exceptions to the amnesty, including any firearms that have been used for a “criminal purpose”. She stresses that people should not deliver their articles to the detachment. Instead, call the non-emergency line and set up a time for an officer to come and pick them up.

This is the fifth amnesty in B.C. since 1997.

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Nanaimo RCMP’s non-emergency line is 250-754-2345.