Multiple Canadian gun-control groups are calling on the RCMP to release information about the firearms used in last month’s shootings in Tumbler Ridge, saying the details could help prevent future mass shootings.
PolySeSouvient and four other advocacy groups sent a letter Tuesday to RCMP Commissioner Mike Duheme, one month after the shootings that left nine dead, including the suspect, at a school and a home in the small northeastern B.C. community.
B.C. RCMP said that guns had previously been seized from the home, but were returned following a petition from their legal owner.
Police said a long gun and a modified rifle were found after the shooting at the school. They said two firearms, including a shotgun, were seized among a number of other firearms at the home.
RCMP said the shotgun and the main firearm believed to have been used in the shootings at the school had not previously been seized by police.
“As leading advocates for gun violence prevention in
Canada, we are alarmed and disappointed that the RCMP has not yet disclosed basic information about the models and legal status of the firearms used, given the potential for this information to strengthen public safety and prevent more mass shootings in Canada,” they said.
The groups note that the Mass Casualty Commission that examined the force’s handling of the 2020 Nova Scotia mass shooting cited an institutional mindset among the RCMP that “undervalues community relationships,” as well as “senior leadership’s initial refusal to admit mistakes.”
They said the RCMP can show it has learned from the Nova Scotia shootings by being transparent with the public about the firearms used in Tumbler Ridge.
The groups asked the RCMP to confirm when it will release information about the models of the firearms, their source and their legal status.
They said if the RCMP doesn’t release this information, it should explain the public-safety rationale behind the decision.
Other signatories to the letter are Angies Angels, Canadian Doctors for Protection Against Guns, Danforth Families for Safe Communities and Boufeldja Benabdallah, co-founder of the Quebec City mosque that was the target of a mass shooting in 2017.
B.C. RCMP media relations officer Staff Sergeant Kris Clark replied to the letter, saying the information is subject to an active investigation and it’s impossible to provide a specific timeline for when all evidence will be collected and analyzed.
“The BC RCMP is also mindful of the recent announcement with respect to an upcoming Coroner’s Inquest and awaits further information around time, location and scope,” he said.
B.C.’s chief coroner, Dr. Jatinder Baidwan, has said the inquest into the shooting will be able to examine a range of systemic issues, including firearms oversight.
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