Firearm & Weapons Charge Lawyer in Brampton

A “Firearm” is defined in section 2 of the Criminal Code as a barreled Weapon from which any shot, bullet or other projectile can be discharged and that is capable of causing serious bodily injury or death to a person, and includes any frame or receiver of such a barreled Weapon and anything that can be adapted for use as a Firearm.

Even if a person is a registered Firearm owner, being careless in the Firearm’s storage can lead to a charge of Careless Storage. This requires the Crown to prove that the method of the Firearm’s storage constitutes a “marked departure” from the standard of care of a reasonably prudent person. In R. v. Rana, [2020] O.J. No. 5184, the accused was found to have a 9mm Beretta handgun in an unlocked gun box, which was placed inside his wife’s locked jewelry safe. Despite being in an unlocked box in his wife’s possession, the accused was acquitted; the fact that it was only accessible by his wife when she tended to her jewelry, and the fact that the Firearm was unloaded, meant that its storage did not meet the “marked departure” standard.

To be convicted of Possession of a Weapon for a Dangerous Purpose, the Crown must prove the accused had possession of the Weapon and formed the intention to use it for a dangerous purpose prior to its actual use. This not only includes the situation where a person already intends, for example, to shoot another person, and then picks up a Firearm to do so, but also includes the situation where a person picks up a gun without any intention of shooting another, but later forms that intention: accused persons who initially possess a Weapon with a non-dangerous purpose may be convicted if their purpose subsequently becomes dangerous — R. v. Horner, [2018] O.J. No. 6917.

Crucially, Possession of a Weapon for a Dangerous Purpose does not require that the Weapon actually be used. In R. v. Hashemian, [2020] O.J. No. 560, the accused had uttered threats to kill Canadians in a phone conversation with a social services manager, and had told her that he had a plan. The police found him before he actually caused any harm, and located a large folding knife concealed under the waistband of his pants. The accused was convicted of Possession of a Weapon for a Dangerous Purpose.