Hamilton police seize truckload of guns from Ancaster home
Canadian Forces infantry soldier's gun collection seized over two infractions
They came for one gun, but left with a truckload — Hamilton police have seized a large weapons cache from the home of an Ancaster man.
On Sunday, police were tipped off that a 22-year old Canadian Forces infantry soldier was in possession of a prohibited rifle drum magazine. On Thursday, officers searched his home and found:
- 14 firearms, including five registered restricted weapons and nine non-restricted long arms
- One loaded registered firearm
- One high capacity magazine
- Numerous knives, a crossbow and weapon magazines
- 13 boxes full of different ammunition
Police also found an improperly stored handgun during the search. Even though the man’s gun collection is large, the majority of them are licensed and legal to own in Canada — but because of the charges, all the weapons have been seized pending a prohibition of firearms hearing, Det. Sgt. Dave Beech told CBC Hamilton.
“Anytime someone has altered a weapon to make it look like something it shouldn’t be in Canada, then we have to look at the person having access to weapons at all,” he said.
Though the collection may seem hefty to the casual observer, it’s not obscenely huge by police standards, Beech said. “I’ve been doing this for a long time, and I’ve seen occasions where I’ve seen a lot more than that,” he said.
“It’s not the norm, but it’s not unique.”
The man is set to appear at a bail hearing Friday, and is facing charges of possession of a prohibited device and careless storage of a firearm.