Don’t bring your gun to the police station.
That’s the seemingly obvious piece of advice being offered up by the Surrey RCMP, after a well-meaning citizen showed up at the Cloverdale District Office with a rifle they wanted to surrender.
Cpl. Scotty Schumann said the elderly man who owned the rifle wanted to hand it over for destruction.
“The rifle had never been registered and he just wanted to have it destroyed because it was of no further use to him, but what’s not common is actually walking into the office with a firearm in plain view. So this was quite unsettling to some of the staff.”
Worse, while handling the weapon inside the station, Schumann said the man accidentally pointed it at staff.
“And it certainly wasn’t in a menacing way. But you know, if you’re not familiar or comfortable around firearms, certainly you can understand how it might be frighting to someone.”
Police said anyone who does want to give up a gun should follow a pair of key safety tips.
First, under no circumstances should anyone bring a firearm into a police station. Instead, call police who will come and retrieve the gun from you.
Secondly, when officers do arrive to collect the firearm, don’t bring it to the door. Instead, leave it in its secure storage, and let the officer ensure it’s unloaded and safe to transport.
Police in Surrey were not conducting an official gun amnesty event when the incident with the rifle occurred, but Surrey RCMP said it is always happy to collect unwanted guns provided safety rules are being followed.
The province last held a gun-amnesty as a part of its ‘Guns and Gangs’ initiative last October.
That initiative netted nearly 1,200 firearms and replicas, including 543 rifles, 223 shotguns and 222 handguns.