http://www.torontopolice.on.ca/print.php?sid=4375
Hundreds of guns will never fall into wrong hands
Articles / Organized Crime
Sep 22, 2009 - 01:48 PM
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Police pulled the trigger on hundreds of illegally possessed guns in a Service-wide effort to keep the city safe.
Project Safe City, which began early this year, resulted in the seizure of 400 guns that had been illegally licensed or registered.
“We can guarantee here today that 400 firearms are not going to be crime guns,” Chief Bill Blair said, of the seized weapons that won’t fall into the hands of criminals.
“These people were less than vigilant about registering and licensing their firearms and may have been equally lax in storing them,” the Chief said.
Of the 510 crime guns seized by police this year, 30% had a domestic origin while the other two-thirds were smuggled into the country.
Police displayed 17 guns seized in the project, including an AK-47, a Winchester pistol-grip 12-gauge shotgun and handguns including Colt .45s and Smith & Wesson .38 Specials.
None of the owners was criminally charged and police encourage anyone in the city who wishes to get rid of their illegally possessed gun to contact the Gun and Gang Task Force at 416-808-2500. The guns will be destroyed.
“We look at this as a preventative process, as well as an educational one,” Chief Blair said, noting many people don’t know they are breaking the law by keeping an unregistered firearm.
He said licensed gun owners who register their weapons are safer because they are well educated on the laws around how to properly store their weapons.
Gun and Gang Task Force investigators pored over 17,000 gun ownerships – from the current digital database to hand- written historical records – to seek out guns that may be illegally possessed. There are over 2.2 million firearms registered in Ontario.
Organized Crime Enforcement Supt. Greg Getty said the guns were found in possession of normally law-abiding citizens who had mostly come into possession of the guns through inheritance.
There have been 259 shootings in Toronto this year, injuring 135 and killing 23 people.
Chief Blair said, although the number of homicides is lower than the previous two years, every gun discharged can end in tragedy.
“On average, twice a day, we are taking an illegal handgun off someone – it’s a dangerous activity,” Chief Blair said, of the risks to officers and the public. He said the city has a problem with handguns that must be addressed by many avenues, including ensuring guns are stored safely.
Click here for a Safe City fact sheet [2]
Check out Link [2] for "the plan"
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Toronto Police Service
http://www.torontopolice.on.ca/
The URL for this story is:
http://www.torontopolice.on.ca/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=4375
Links in this article
[1] http://www.torontopolice.on.ca/media/images/2009/large/20090922_project_safe_city_2.jpg
[2] http://www.torontopolice.on.ca/media/text/20090922-project_safe_city_overview.pdf
Hundreds of guns will never fall into wrong hands
Articles / Organized Crime
Sep 22, 2009 - 01:48 PM
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Police pulled the trigger on hundreds of illegally possessed guns in a Service-wide effort to keep the city safe.
Project Safe City, which began early this year, resulted in the seizure of 400 guns that had been illegally licensed or registered.
“We can guarantee here today that 400 firearms are not going to be crime guns,” Chief Bill Blair said, of the seized weapons that won’t fall into the hands of criminals.
“These people were less than vigilant about registering and licensing their firearms and may have been equally lax in storing them,” the Chief said.
Of the 510 crime guns seized by police this year, 30% had a domestic origin while the other two-thirds were smuggled into the country.
Police displayed 17 guns seized in the project, including an AK-47, a Winchester pistol-grip 12-gauge shotgun and handguns including Colt .45s and Smith & Wesson .38 Specials.
None of the owners was criminally charged and police encourage anyone in the city who wishes to get rid of their illegally possessed gun to contact the Gun and Gang Task Force at 416-808-2500. The guns will be destroyed.
“We look at this as a preventative process, as well as an educational one,” Chief Blair said, noting many people don’t know they are breaking the law by keeping an unregistered firearm.
He said licensed gun owners who register their weapons are safer because they are well educated on the laws around how to properly store their weapons.
Gun and Gang Task Force investigators pored over 17,000 gun ownerships – from the current digital database to hand- written historical records – to seek out guns that may be illegally possessed. There are over 2.2 million firearms registered in Ontario.
Organized Crime Enforcement Supt. Greg Getty said the guns were found in possession of normally law-abiding citizens who had mostly come into possession of the guns through inheritance.
There have been 259 shootings in Toronto this year, injuring 135 and killing 23 people.
Chief Blair said, although the number of homicides is lower than the previous two years, every gun discharged can end in tragedy.
“On average, twice a day, we are taking an illegal handgun off someone – it’s a dangerous activity,” Chief Blair said, of the risks to officers and the public. He said the city has a problem with handguns that must be addressed by many avenues, including ensuring guns are stored safely.
Click here for a Safe City fact sheet [2]
Check out Link [2] for "the plan"
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Toronto Police Service
http://www.torontopolice.on.ca/
The URL for this story is:
http://www.torontopolice.on.ca/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=4375
Links in this article
[1] http://www.torontopolice.on.ca/media/images/2009/large/20090922_project_safe_city_2.jpg
[2] http://www.torontopolice.on.ca/media/text/20090922-project_safe_city_overview.pdf
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