Firearms, Guns & Gangs
Firearms charges carry the presumption of custody, pellet guns and imitation firearms included. Project prosecutions add mass arrest, seizure and bail problems on top of that.
What this charge involves
Every charge involving a firearm attracts a Crown position seeking jail. That includes matters where the allegation is nothing more than improper storage of a gun or of ammunition, and it includes pellet and BB guns, which qualify as firearms in law where the projectile travels fast enough. Where it doesn’t, the charge will usually involve an imitation firearm, which carries significant penalties of its own.
We have acted across the full range: clients said to have made their own firearms, stolen them, used them in robberies and assaults, threatened people with them, and clients who used one defending themselves.
Gun cases and drug cases are fought the same way, because they turn on the same question: how was it found?
Charges within this area
- Possession of a firearm
- Use in the commission of an offence
- Improper storage
- Imitation firearms
- Criminal organization offences
- Bail and return of seized property
How these cases get fought
The parts of the file that decide the outcome.
Seizure first, authority second.
When police believe a firearm is present, their operational priority is to secure it. That’s understandable. It also means the question of whether they had lawful authority to search is frequently addressed after the fact rather than before.
That gap is where these cases get fought. The requirements for a lawful search don’t relax because the thing being sought is dangerous, and the courts have consistently enforced the constitutional limits on police action. But only where somebody brings the application.
Project prosecutions: the seizure is a tactic.
Investigations into alleged gangs or criminal organizations typically end in a coordinated raid: large numbers of people arrested at once, and the assets of the group and of the individuals seized simultaneously.
The effect is deliberate. It takes away the people who might have stood as sureties and the funds that might have been posted for bail. Answering it means moving quickly on two fronts at once, release and the return of seized property, and it wants a lawyer who has done it before.
In practice, recovering seized property usually depends on succeeding against the charge.
Criminal organization allegations.
A criminal organization count gets added to raise the exposure and to justify sweeping evidence, such as wiretap, surveillance and association evidence, that would otherwise be hard to admit. The count has legal elements that still have to be proven, and they are often the weakest part of the Crown’s case.
Association is not membership. Presence is not participation.
Storage charges are not minor charges.
Lawful firearms owners get prosecuted for storage offences with real regularity, often after police attend the house for something unrelated. The consequence is not only the charge. It’s a prohibition order, the loss of licences, and the forfeiture of a collection.
These matters deserve a defence, and in our experience they very often have one.
Related case results
Matters of this kind and how they were resolved. Identifying details have been changed or withheld, and past results don’t predict the outcome of any other case.
- Acquitted
Robbery · Break and Enter
- Charges withdrawn
Drug Offences · Grow Operations
- Charges stayed
Drug Trafficking · Fentanyl
If police are questioning you
What to say
“I want to speak to my lawyer. I have nothing to say to you.”
Say it, then stop. Nobody can make you explain yourself, and an explanation can’t help you: the rules of evidence will not let your own statement be used in your favour at trial. It can only be used against you.
Questions about firearms, guns & gangs charges
It was a pellet gun. Is that really a firearm?
It can be. If the projectile leaves the barrel above the velocity set out in law, it’s a firearm for the purposes of the Criminal Code. Below that, the charge usually involves an imitation firearm, which still carries significant penalties.
The gun was not mine and was not in my hands.
Then the Crown must prove knowledge and control. In a vehicle or a shared residence with multiple occupants, that’s frequently the whole of the contest.
Will I go to jail if convicted?
The Crown will certainly seek it. Many firearms offences historically carried mandatory minimums, several of which have since been struck down or repealed. Where any specific charge stands now has to be checked at the outset rather than assumed.
Police seized my car and my phone. Can I get them back?
We pursue the return of seized property in parallel with the charge. Realistically, recovery usually follows success on the prosecution itself.
This page is general information about Canadian criminal law, not legal advice about your situation. The offences described are defined in the Criminal Code of Canada, and the rights referred to are in the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. If you cannot afford counsel, Legal Aid Ontario may be able to help.
Written and reviewed by Rita Levin, criminal defence lawyer, called to the Ontario bar on 29 May 1998. Law Society of Ontario licence no. 41157R. Last reviewed .
Other charges we defend
Drug Offences
Possession, trafficking, importation and production, including fentanyl, cocaine and methamphetamine.
Sexual Offences
Sexual assault, sexual interference, invitation to sexual touching, sexual exploitation.
Homicide
Murder, manslaughter, attempted murder, criminal negligence causing death.
Fraud & Financial Crime
Fraud over and under $5,000, employee and corporate fraud, forensic accounting cases.
Assault & Domestic
Assault, assault causing bodily harm, aggravated assault, and domestic matters.
Impaired Driving
Impaired operation, over 80, refusing the demand, and impaired causing bodily harm or death.
Theft, Break & Enter, Robbery
Theft over and under $5,000, break and enter, robbery, and possession of stolen property.
Internet Offences
Child sexual abuse material, luring, voyeurism, and the non-consensual sharing of intimate images.
Talk it through with a lawyer
The first conversation costs nothing and commits you to nothing. We will give you an honest read on where you stand, whether you retain us or not.
We are a private practice and our fees reflect the work involved. A serious matter is prepared over months, and we keep our numbers low so each file gets the hours it needs. We will tell you what your case is likely to cost on the first call, before you commit to anything. And if the honest answer is that duty counsel, Legal Aid or another firm would serve you better, we will tell you that instead.