Gun calls weren’t always so common in Saskatoon.
“In the ‘90s and 2000s, it was extremely rare to ever respond to a call where a firearm was involved,” said Staff Sgt. Grant Obst with the Saskatoon Police Service’s (SPS) street crime section.
“Nowadays, it’s basically a daily event.”
It’s unclear why unlawful firearm use is on the rise, Obst said, though he noted guns are often used by Saskatoon’s street gangs, which have become more prevalent in the last decade.
Saskatoon police seized 600 firearms in 2019, according to the results of an access to information request filed by Global News. The full list of seized firearms is at the bottom of this story.
The lot included 236 handguns, 234 rifles, 107 shotguns and 23 miscellaneous firearms, many restricted or prohibited.
Most of the guns seized were quite common — no rocket launchers or assault rifles.
Many guns stolen
“Shotguns and 22s are very, very common, so … it makes sense that they show up often when it comes to the criminal element, especially if you’re considering the fact that a lot of the firearms that we deal with have been stolen,” Obst said.
“If you happen to be a firearms owner, you’d be doing us a great favour by making sure that your firearms are locked up, secured, out of sight.”
Police can track where those weapons come from if they’re registered to an owner, said Gil White, recreational firearm community chairperson for the Saskatchewan Wildlife Federation. If not, people can report a stolen firearm with its serial number.
Ninety-nine of the firearms confiscated by police had sawed-off barrels, which is often an indicator that a gun was stolen, Obst said.
White said there’s no good reason to saw off a barrel.
“When they’re full length, they’re probably more accurate, but then they’re harder to conceal,” said White, who is based in Regina.
“People that go to that extent have a reason to do it and it’s usually not a legitimate, honest reason.”
Airguns a serious problem
White said he was surprised by the sheer number of airguns police confiscated, at 185.
While airguns may not be particularly menacing, Obst said they pose a problem, since any unlicensed person can buy them.
“There is a multitude of guns out there — and we’ve seized a number of them — that look exactly like a real firearm,” Obst said.
“If you were to hold up a real handgun and a replica or an airsoft pistol, they look pretty much identical, so that’s a challenge for policing.”
How police come into contact with guns
The SPS often encounters firearms while investigating gangs, which use them for intimidation and retribution, Obst said. Officers also come across guns during drug and domestic situations.
“Firearms and violence and drug trafficking go hand in hand,” Obst said.
A criminal element isn’t always involved.
There were about 130 offences involving firearms last year, yet 600 were seized, Obst said.
In some cases, he said people ask police to hold onto their guns for safekeeping while they get their paperwork sorted.
Many firearms are also surrendered through gun amnesty programs, where people who turn them in aren’t subject to unauthorized possession charges.
Unified investigation teams
Police have made some changes in light of the increase in unlawful gun use in Saskatoon, Obst said.
There were several shootings in Pleasant Hill last year, so police moved additional resources to the area for a few months. Numerous arrests were made, Obst said.
Police also unified some of their investigation teams, including the guns and gangs, drugs and serious assault units.
Obst said that has enabled them to work closely with other units investigating similar crimes, improving communication and collaboration.
See the full list of firearms seized by Saskatoon police in 2019:
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