NEWS
metronews.ca WEEKEND, September 6-8, 2013
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Real or replica? Police kept busy with fake firearms Wasted resources. Negligent owners could face bylaw fines Jeremy nolais
jeremy.nolais@metronews.ca
Only two of these six firearms are real, according to Calgary police. Can you spot the difference? If you guessed that No. 11 and 12 were real, you’re right. Jeremy Nolais/metro
It doesn’t take much to mistake a paintball or pellet gun for the real thing, say Calgary police, who’ve been kept busy responding to calls in recent months where an airpowered firearm was thought to pose real danger. Insp. Mike Tillotson said the most recent incident saw more than a dozen tactical and K-9 officers dispatched to Nose Creek amid reports someone was armed with a military-style assault rifle. It took nearly 90 minutes for officers on the ground
and aboard the HAWCS helicopter overhead to determine the firearm actually fired paintballs, not bullets. “The last thing we would want to see is somebody accidentally or inadvertently putting themselves into a dangerous situation,” he said. Police displayed 21 firearms Thursday, some real and some not, to get across the point that even up close many replicas can fool the average eye. In some cases, officers have found firearms that have been spray-painted to look more realistic or vice versa, Tillotson said. He also warned it’s an offence to fire any air-powered rifle or to transport such weapons with an ammunition round in the chamber unless within the area of a designated shooting range. To fire such weapons out-
Fines
Owners misusing BB, pellet or Airsoft guns could face fines from $500-$1,000.
side of Calgary city limits, the shooter must obtain permission from a landowner. Tillotson said Calgary police do go through weaponsfamiliarization training, but added that replica firearms are becoming increasingly realistic. “I can tell you, anecdotally, that from the spring to the fall we’ll have at least several pellet-gun- and BB-gun-related calls per week,” he said. Tillotson said the officers responding to firearms calls that ultimately prove to be fake are potentially being diverted away from other more serious situations.