Whisper
December 17th, 2005, 09:43 PM
Police say the man accused of killing a 25-year-old Quebec policewoman in the line of duty had two illegal weapons stashed in his apartment despite a ban imposed six years ago.
Although a judge imposed a 10-year ban on Francoise Pepin owning firearams back in 1999, police found two illegal weapons in his apartment on Wednesday.
The Globe and Mail reported that neither of the rifles was among the weapons he was given an exemption to carry during hunting season.
"We're trying to find out how he came into possession of these weapons," Sergeant François Doré, a spokesman for the provincial police, told the newspaper.
According to the original court order, Pepin's six rifles were confiscated in 1999 and placed in the custody of an acquaintance.
Police have already said that a .338-calibre hunting rifle was used to kill Laval Const. Valérie Gignac, a weapon powerful enough to take down an elk or moose.
"You could put ten bullet vests and (the bullets) could go through the ten vests," Gilles Lemieux of the Laval Police Brotherhood told CTV Montreal.
At the heart of the Dec. 14 shooting is the question of how the suspect allegedly got his hands on the illegal weapons.
CTV Montreal's Caroline Van Vlaardingen reports that the .338 is coming back in style with more hunters using them for moose and other large game.
Whatever its intended purpose, one gunsmith told her that the young constable's death illustrates that Canada's gun registry isn't working.
"The guy had a criminal record so someone made a mistake at some level of the justice system," the unidentified gunsmith said in French.
He dismissed the suggestion the weapon could have been purchased on the black market.
"No, these types of big guns don't come up on the black market. They are used for hunting, not the kind of guns used by criminals," he said.
Pepin has been charged with first-degree murder in the death of Gignac and will remain in custody until his next court appearance on Feb. 15.
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I hope he rots in hell
Although a judge imposed a 10-year ban on Francoise Pepin owning firearams back in 1999, police found two illegal weapons in his apartment on Wednesday.
The Globe and Mail reported that neither of the rifles was among the weapons he was given an exemption to carry during hunting season.
"We're trying to find out how he came into possession of these weapons," Sergeant François Doré, a spokesman for the provincial police, told the newspaper.
According to the original court order, Pepin's six rifles were confiscated in 1999 and placed in the custody of an acquaintance.
Police have already said that a .338-calibre hunting rifle was used to kill Laval Const. Valérie Gignac, a weapon powerful enough to take down an elk or moose.
"You could put ten bullet vests and (the bullets) could go through the ten vests," Gilles Lemieux of the Laval Police Brotherhood told CTV Montreal.
At the heart of the Dec. 14 shooting is the question of how the suspect allegedly got his hands on the illegal weapons.
CTV Montreal's Caroline Van Vlaardingen reports that the .338 is coming back in style with more hunters using them for moose and other large game.
Whatever its intended purpose, one gunsmith told her that the young constable's death illustrates that Canada's gun registry isn't working.
"The guy had a criminal record so someone made a mistake at some level of the justice system," the unidentified gunsmith said in French.
He dismissed the suggestion the weapon could have been purchased on the black market.
"No, these types of big guns don't come up on the black market. They are used for hunting, not the kind of guns used by criminals," he said.
Pepin has been charged with first-degree murder in the death of Gignac and will remain in custody until his next court appearance on Feb. 15.
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I hope he rots in hell