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RCMP tests show some firearms can be converted to fully automatic
Many semi-automatic rifles are susceptible to improvised deadly upgrades
RCMP tests on a variety of semi-automatic weapons sold in Canada have found
the guns can be converted temporarily into fully automatic firearms through
an improvised technique described on the internet.
That was the conclusion of an internal report prompted by last year's
shooting deaths of three Mounties in Moncton, N.B. The report was delivered
to the public safety minister for possible action.
RCMP Commissioner Bob Paulson wrote to Steven Blaney last December,
detailing test results on six types of semi-automatics and recommending the
government consider laws or regulations to ensure the improvisation
technique is prohibited.
Mountie killer Justin Bourque told RCMP that he had considered making his
semi-automatic rifle into a prohibited fully automatic weapon, using an
improvised technique. (RCMP)The Mounties also sent a warning, known as an
officer safety alert, to Canadian police forces in January this year tipping
them to the technique "so that they may take appropriate enforcement or
investigation measures."
"Criminals could . adopt this technique to work around prohibitions on fully
automatic firearms, potentially resulting in an increase in gun violence,
mass casualties or copycat crimes as the technique is applied more broadly,"
Paulson advised the minister.
In a response six months later, however, Blaney said changes are not needed.
Law 'sufficiently robust'
"While utilizing such methods to increase the effective rate of fire of
semi-automatic firearms is certainly ill-advised, I am of the view that the
current legislative framework is sufficiently robust to protect the public
from dangerous firing techniques," he wrote on June 29 this year.
CBC News obtained correspondence between Paulson and Blaney on the issue
through the Access to Information Act, with significant deletions of
sensitive information, including the name and description of the technique
tested.
CBC News has independently identified the technique and its presence on the
internet, and obtained other documentation, but is withholding details out
of concern for public safety.
"We've raised the issue that there's a possible officer safety and public
safety issue, and it's for policymakers to decide," Peter Henschel, RCMP
deputy commissioner, said in an interview.
'We have demonstrated that there are some weapons that are susceptible to
being fired in full automatic mode.' - Peter Henschel, RCMP deputy
commissioner
"We have demonstrated that there are some weapons that are susceptible to
being fired in full automatic mode."
Henschel declined to provide details, except to say that "mid-range calibre
[weapons] based on a military or paramilitary design" are more susceptible
to the technique.
Blaney, who retained his Quebec seat in the Oct. 19 election and remains
minister until Nov. 4, told CBC News that existing laws and tough sentences
are sufficient to deal with potential problems.
"We agree with the RCMP's initial conclusions that this technique does not
pose any immediate threat to public safety and that appropriate actions have
been taken to address concerns," he said in an email last week.
"Altering a firearm for fully automatic fire is illegal in Canada. Violators
could be subject to a lengthy prison sentence of up to 10 years."
The RCMP tests were triggered when Justin Bourque, the 24-year-old Moncton
shooter who killed three Mounties and severely injured two, told
interrogators he had considered using the technique to upgrade his
semi-automatic rifle, a Poly Technologies Model M305 .308-calibre
Winchester.
Considered upgrade
Bourque did not carry out the upgrade, but the RCMP, which in 2005 lost four
officers at Mayerthorpe, Alta., to a gunman with a semi-automatic rifle,
soon ordered the lab work.
"The RCMP has conducted extensive testing of the [blanked out] technique on
six firearms, representing a significant spectrum of semi-automatic rifles
available on the Canadian market," Paulson told Blaney.
The test report, titled Feasibility and Practicality of Improvised Full
Automatic Fire, was entirely withheld in the Access to Information Act
package released to CBC News.
Public Safety Minister Steven Blaney told the RCMP that existing laws and
regulations are sufficient to deal with the possibility that semi-automatic
weapons could be turned into more deadly fully automatic firearms. (Adrian
Wyld/Canadian Press)The federal Justice Department looked at the legal
framework, and in an April 30 report concluded that "overall, there is
ambiguity in the law concerning improvised techniques to convert firearms to
automatic fire," says a briefing note for Blaney, dated June 25 this year.
"There are no documented cases where the [blanked out] technique has been
used in a criminal offence in Canada. Should this technique be encountered
in Canada, law enforcement has the power to act by laying charges under the
Criminal Code."
In 2009 and 2013, Canada prohibited models of semi-automatic weapons that
had previously been allowed on the market but were later found to be too
readily modified to fully automatic status.
But in a third case, Blaney imposed a two-year amnesty after the RCMP
determined that CZ 858 and Swiss Arms semi-automatic rifles should also be
prohibited because of their susceptibility to conversion to automatics.
Blaney's action was widely seen as a rebuke to the Mounties.
The Harper government later passed Bill C-42, which gave the federal cabinet
final say in any move to prohibit such weapons.
The newly elected Liberal government's platform promised a series of
gun-control measures, but declined to revive the long-gun registry abolished
by the Harper government.
"We will take action to get handguns and assault weapons off our streets,"
says the document, also committing to "repeal changes made by Bill C-42 .
[and] put decision-making about weapons restrictions back in the hands of
police, not politicians."
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RCMP tests show some firearms can be converted to fully automatic
Many semi-automatic rifles are susceptible to improvised deadly upgrades
RCMP tests on a variety of semi-automatic weapons sold in Canada have found
the guns can be converted temporarily into fully automatic firearms through
an improvised technique described on the internet.
That was the conclusion of an internal report prompted by last year's
shooting deaths of three Mounties in Moncton, N.B. The report was delivered
to the public safety minister for possible action.
RCMP Commissioner Bob Paulson wrote to Steven Blaney last December,
detailing test results on six types of semi-automatics and recommending the
government consider laws or regulations to ensure the improvisation
technique is prohibited.
Mountie killer Justin Bourque told RCMP that he had considered making his
semi-automatic rifle into a prohibited fully automatic weapon, using an
improvised technique. (RCMP)The Mounties also sent a warning, known as an
officer safety alert, to Canadian police forces in January this year tipping
them to the technique "so that they may take appropriate enforcement or
investigation measures."
"Criminals could . adopt this technique to work around prohibitions on fully
automatic firearms, potentially resulting in an increase in gun violence,
mass casualties or copycat crimes as the technique is applied more broadly,"
Paulson advised the minister.
In a response six months later, however, Blaney said changes are not needed.
Law 'sufficiently robust'
"While utilizing such methods to increase the effective rate of fire of
semi-automatic firearms is certainly ill-advised, I am of the view that the
current legislative framework is sufficiently robust to protect the public
from dangerous firing techniques," he wrote on June 29 this year.
CBC News obtained correspondence between Paulson and Blaney on the issue
through the Access to Information Act, with significant deletions of
sensitive information, including the name and description of the technique
tested.
CBC News has independently identified the technique and its presence on the
internet, and obtained other documentation, but is withholding details out
of concern for public safety.
"We've raised the issue that there's a possible officer safety and public
safety issue, and it's for policymakers to decide," Peter Henschel, RCMP
deputy commissioner, said in an interview.
'We have demonstrated that there are some weapons that are susceptible to
being fired in full automatic mode.' - Peter Henschel, RCMP deputy
commissioner
"We have demonstrated that there are some weapons that are susceptible to
being fired in full automatic mode."
Henschel declined to provide details, except to say that "mid-range calibre
[weapons] based on a military or paramilitary design" are more susceptible
to the technique.
Blaney, who retained his Quebec seat in the Oct. 19 election and remains
minister until Nov. 4, told CBC News that existing laws and tough sentences
are sufficient to deal with potential problems.
"We agree with the RCMP's initial conclusions that this technique does not
pose any immediate threat to public safety and that appropriate actions have
been taken to address concerns," he said in an email last week.
"Altering a firearm for fully automatic fire is illegal in Canada. Violators
could be subject to a lengthy prison sentence of up to 10 years."
The RCMP tests were triggered when Justin Bourque, the 24-year-old Moncton
shooter who killed three Mounties and severely injured two, told
interrogators he had considered using the technique to upgrade his
semi-automatic rifle, a Poly Technologies Model M305 .308-calibre
Winchester.
Considered upgrade
Bourque did not carry out the upgrade, but the RCMP, which in 2005 lost four
officers at Mayerthorpe, Alta., to a gunman with a semi-automatic rifle,
soon ordered the lab work.
"The RCMP has conducted extensive testing of the [blanked out] technique on
six firearms, representing a significant spectrum of semi-automatic rifles
available on the Canadian market," Paulson told Blaney.
The test report, titled Feasibility and Practicality of Improvised Full
Automatic Fire, was entirely withheld in the Access to Information Act
package released to CBC News.
Public Safety Minister Steven Blaney told the RCMP that existing laws and
regulations are sufficient to deal with the possibility that semi-automatic
weapons could be turned into more deadly fully automatic firearms. (Adrian
Wyld/Canadian Press)The federal Justice Department looked at the legal
framework, and in an April 30 report concluded that "overall, there is
ambiguity in the law concerning improvised techniques to convert firearms to
automatic fire," says a briefing note for Blaney, dated June 25 this year.
"There are no documented cases where the [blanked out] technique has been
used in a criminal offence in Canada. Should this technique be encountered
in Canada, law enforcement has the power to act by laying charges under the
Criminal Code."
In 2009 and 2013, Canada prohibited models of semi-automatic weapons that
had previously been allowed on the market but were later found to be too
readily modified to fully automatic status.
But in a third case, Blaney imposed a two-year amnesty after the RCMP
determined that CZ 858 and Swiss Arms semi-automatic rifles should also be
prohibited because of their susceptibility to conversion to automatics.
Blaney's action was widely seen as a rebuke to the Mounties.
The Harper government later passed Bill C-42, which gave the federal cabinet
final say in any move to prohibit such weapons.
The newly elected Liberal government's platform promised a series of
gun-control measures, but declined to revive the long-gun registry abolished
by the Harper government.
"We will take action to get handguns and assault weapons off our streets,"
says the document, also committing to "repeal changes made by Bill C-42 .
[and] put decision-making about weapons restrictions back in the hands of
police, not politicians."
_______________________________________________
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