Nova Scotia Mass Shooting

Bill.in.PA · 2020-04-23T00:01:48.329Z

Owning a mock police vehicle and a uniform is not impersonation:

If you wear a police uniform on Halloween, can you be arrested for...

My brother-in-law has a very convincing police uniform he plans to where out and to some costume contests. It looks indistinguishable from the real thing and has the real MA State Police patches on the arms of the jacket. He has plastic gun that...

In the US and Canada it appears to be perfectly legal to make a car look like a police car and to own a police uniform so long as you don’t actually use them to convince people you are a real police officer.

If people are looking at new laws, it may make sense to regulate ownership of these items to prevent a similar shootings in the future. The UK has much tighter laws about police uniforms:

Any person who, not being a member of a police force or special constable, has in his possession any article of police uniform shall, unless he proves that he obtained possession of that article lawfully and has possession of it for a lawful purpose, be guilty of an offence and liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding level 1 on the standard scale.

legislation.gov.uk

Police Act 1996

An Act to consolidate the Police Act 1964, Part IX of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984, Chapter I of Part I of the Police and Magistrates’ Courts Act 1994 and certain other enactments relating to the police.

Samm · 2020-04-23T00:03:30.529Z

CanadianJudo:

Samm:

So that’s an opinion, not an inevitability.

I will tell you what happen in 2015/2016 Trudeau suggest making gun law stricter to combat crime.

RCMP and the Government did a report on the subject and found that it wouldn’t reduce gun crime.

the issue was dropped.

That’s fine and dandy, but you said “it goes to show that no bill will be passed or law created.” It does not show that as long as there is a contingent pushing for the law, there is a possibility that they will eventually get what they want.

CanadianJudo · 2020-04-23T00:04:58.267Z

Bill.in.PA:

Owning a mock police vehicle and a uniform is not impersonation:
If you wear a police uniform on Halloween, can you be arrested for impersonating a police officer? | FreeAdvice

In the US and Canada it appears to be perfectly legal to make a car look like a police car and to own a police uniform so long as you don’t actually use them to convince people you are a real police officer.

If people are looking at new laws, it may make sense to regulate ownership of these items to prevent a similar shootings in the future. The UK has much tighter laws about police uniforms:

Any person who, not being a member of a police force or special constable, has in his possession any article of police uniform shall, unless he proves that he obtained possession of that article lawfully and has possession of it for a lawful purpose, be guilty of an offence and liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding level 1 on the standard scale.
https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1996/16/section/90

Personating peace officer

130 (1) Everyone commits an offence who

    (a) falsely represents himself to be a peace officer or a public officer; or

    **(b) not being a peace officer or public officer, uses a badge or article of uniform or equipment in a manner that is likely to cause persons to believe that he is a peace officer or a public officer, as the case may be.**

Marginal note:Punishment

(2) Everyone who commits an offence under subsection (1)

    (a) is guilty of an indictable offence and liable to imprisonment for a term of not more than five years; or

    (b) is guilty of an offence punishable on summary conviction.

Yes it is.

laws-lois.justice.gc.ca

Criminal Code

Federal laws of Canada

Samm · 2020-04-23T00:23:10.512Z

Bill.in.PA:

Owning a mock police vehicle and a uniform is not impersonation:

I fail to get your point. Riding around in that vehicle while donning an authentic police uniform and badge is impersonation. The authentic looking vehicle gave credibility to the ruse, which makes it part of the crime of impersonation. People would have been suspicious had he pulled up at their door driving a pickup truck.

Bill.in.PA · 2020-04-23T14:20:06.344Z

My question is whether Wortman could have been arrested for possession of a mock police car and uniform before he started his shooting spree? The answer appears to be no.

Mere possession of these items is not a crime in Nova Scotia, so even if the police knew about the items they could not have done anything.

After he was driving around shooting people, there were plenty of reasons to arrest him. Impersonating an officer is just one more on a long list of potential charges.

WuWei · 2020-05-01T20:48:13.084Z

Any word on the gun?

I heard “assault rifles” are banned now.

Samm · 2020-05-01T21:30:54.911Z

Thank God! Now fake cops with a hand gun don’t need to worry about being shot by an intended victim before they come into range.

Grande · 2020-05-01T23:35:27.104Z

Its official, they are now by PM edict

POLITICO

Canada bans assault-style guns after Nova Scotia rampage

Owners of the guns will have a two-year amnesty period to surrender the weapons, and Parliament will pass legislation to provide them with “fair compensation,” Trudeau said.

WuWei · 2020-05-01T23:45:33.508Z

CBC

2 types of guns N.S. shooter used in rampage now banned in Canada | CBC News

Two types of firearms used by a gunman who recently took the lives of 22 people in Nova Scotia are on a list of more than 1,500 "military-style assault weapons" that were banned in Canada on Friday, said the country's public...

But it’s unclear how such a ban could have prevented the Nova Scotia gunman from obtaining the weapons he used, if at all.

That’s because Friday’s announcement targets legally-purchased firearms and investigators have said they have a “fairly good idea” that the gunman didn’t have any kind of licence to possess firearms in Canada.

Almost half of the victims (9 of 22) died in the fires he set. Premier Blackface going to ban fire?

CanadianJudo · 2020-05-01T23:57:11.408Z

Fire is already banned it scare the moose.

WildRose · 2020-05-04T06:03:32.123Z

“Never let a crisis go to waste”

Most gun legislation is passed during or just following a crisis.

WildRose · 2020-05-04T06:04:40.233Z

Maybe instead of obsessing about the US our resident Kanucks should focus on what’s happening in their own country?

Samm · 2020-05-04T22:57:19.742Z

CanadianJudo:

Fire is already banned it scare the moose.

Fire is crucial to maintaining moose habitat. Their main diet is the vegetation that flourishes after a fire has burned the trees.

WildRose · 2020-05-04T23:00:42.236Z

Indeed, and the more man encroaches on nature the more man learns to hate and tries to control nature.

If lions eat one person in a remote village, no big deal, but when they start killing livestock, pets, and people with regularity even the green weenies demand the lions be hunted down and killed.

Well, not the stupid one’s that think “relocation” is the humane solution.

They deserve to be relocated with the predators they love so they can learn a bit about nature.

Bill.in.PA · 2020-05-05T00:51:41.055Z

“Falsely representing” yourself as a police officer is a crime. Possessing a uniform and mock police car is not a crime according to statute.

Even if the police had known that Wortman had a uniform and a mock police car, there was no basis to arrest him until he was actually pretending to be a policeman. Changing this law might have prevented the shooting, especially if it is clear that others were involve in getting the uniform and/or creating a mock police car.

Samm · 2020-05-05T00:54:36.402Z

Bill.in.PA:

“Falsely representing” yourself as a police officer is a crime. Possessing a uniform and mock police car is not a crime according to statute.

Even if the police had known that Wortman had a uniform and a mock police car, there was no basis to arrest him until he was actually pretending to be a policeman. Changing this law might have prevented the shooting, especially if it is clear that others were involve in getting the uniform and/or creating a mock police car.

He possessed his guns illegally. Do you really think that making possession of the uniform and car would have stopped him?

WuWei · 2020-05-05T00:56:50.584Z

Did they ever identify the weapons?

Bill.in.PA · 2020-05-05T01:33:17.333Z

Probably not, but a mock police car is a lot more difficult to hide than a gun.

Yes, some of the guns were already illegal. Adding another reason for them to be illegal would not have changed anything.

The new gun ban is clearly politically motivated. The fact that they are banning the guns and not the mock police car confirms that.

Grande · 2020-05-05T03:10:44.603Z

But but but TRUMP!
TDS knows no borders

mobulis · 2020-05-07T01:53:20.131Z

Grande:

But but but TRUMP!
TDS knows no borders

Yep trump defense syndrome is a problem.