Skip to content

Surrey cops scoop up more than 500 guns and 3,000 rounds of ammo

Surrey Mounties visited owners of restricted and prohibited firearms whose registrations expired, between April 4 and April 22
30028surreynowStock_RCMPCAR01
Surrey Mounties

SURREY — The Surrey RCMP with help from other police agencies collected more than 500 guns and 3,000 rounds of ammunition during its "Safe City" campaign.

Surrey Mounties, supported by the National Weapons Enforcement Support Team and the Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit, visited owners of restricted and prohibited firearms whose registrations expired, between April 4 and April 22.

According to a Surrey RCMP press release, the "vast majority" of owners asked the police to "safeguard" their weapons while they got their papers in order and about 50 guns were surrendered to police outright. Some guns were improperly stored, increasing the risk of them falling into the wrong hands. Others belonged to owners that have died and the guns were passed on to family members who had no idea about their registration requirements or what to do about them.

Asst. Commissioner Bill Fordy noted there are many reasons why gun owners let their registrations lapse and some don't realize they've expired.

"The vast majority of firearm owners in our city are compliant with the laws," he added. "The intent of the Safe City project is not to penalize gun owners, but to educate those with expired registrations on the legal requirements to own a firearm."

Insp. Chris McBryan, in charge of NWEST in Western Canada, said the majority of gun-related crimes  are done with "domestically sourced" guns.

tom.zytaruk@thenownewspaper.com



About the Author: Tom Zytaruk

I write unvarnished opinion columns and unbiased news reports for the Surrey Now-Leader.
Read more