Now we're smuggling them into Canada?

[wa3ra]

ILLEGAL GUN TRADE
Machine gun seized in raid likely smuggled
Fully automatic .30-calibre Browning, among 41 weapons found in cache south of Nanaimo, was probably military surplus, expert says

BRENNAN CLARKE

Special to The Globe and Mail

April 10, 2009

VICTORIA -- A military-grade machine gun seized by Nanaimo RCMP this week is likely an army surplus weapon smuggled into Canada as part of the thriving illegal gun trade, a Vancouver-based firearms researcher said yesterday.

"It's almost certainly a smuggled weapon," said Gary Mauser, a retired Simon Fraser University business professor who has lectured extensively on the criminal use of firearms.

"Most of the illegal weapons like this are military surplus that have been obtained by legitimate military groups and then sold illegally."

The machine gun, a fully automatic .30-calibre Browning, was among 41 weapons seized by the RCMP on Wednesday during a raid on a ramshackle acreage just south of Nanaimo. (Police originally mistook the machine gun for a .50-calibre weapon.) The raid also netted two semi-automatic assault rifles, hundreds of rounds of ammunition, grenades, blasting caps, detonator cords, a half-kilo of cocaine and more than $50,000 in cash.
Print Edition - Section Front

Seven of the weapons are prohibited in Canada, which banned fully automatic weapons in the 1970s.

"Unless that fully automatic Browning is more than 30 years old, there's no way to legally bring it into Canada," Mr. Mauser said, adding that any Canadian interested in buying a similar weapon in the United States would have to deal on the black market.

Browning machine guns were first manufactured in the United States, but models are produced around the world, making it impossible to pinpoint their origins without a serial number, Mr. Mauser said. A fully automatic .30-calibre machine gun is able to destroy cars, helicopters and planes, he added.

Yesterday, Nanaimo RCMP charged one man with a series of weapons and drug offences and released four other people who were arrested during Wednesday's raid.

Glen David Pirart, 43, faces charges of possession of a prohibited weapon, unauthorized possession of a firearm and possession of cocaine for the purposes of trafficking. "No further charges are being contemplated at this time, but there's always a possibility of more charges as the investigation continues," Constable Gary O'Brien said.

Police say Mr. Pirart was living in one of several buildings on the 1.6-hectare property in Extension, an unincorporated area just south of Nanaimo.

Land-title searches indicate the property is divided into two parcels, one of which is owned by Dennis Paugh, who runs a company called HD Tree Service. The other parcel is jointly owned by Mr. Pirart and Mr. Paugh. Nanaimo RCMP have acknowledged they are investigating possible links between the property and organized crime. However, Constable O'Brien said yesterday police have not made any definitive links to the Hells Angels or any other gang.

While smuggled guns are a problem in Canada, according to a recent study commissioned by the B.C. government, so are legally imported weapons that find their way into the Canadian black market. The study, entitled A Report on the Illegal Movement of Firearms in British Columbia, singled out movie-industry prop masters and other licensed dealers as a source of prohibited weapons.

*****

RCMP seized a military-grade machine gun like this one south of Nanaimo. The Browing can be used with or without a tripod

THE .30 CALIBRE BROWNING LIGHT MACHINE GUN

Rate of fire 400-600 round/min.

Muzzle velocity 853.6 m/s

Effective range 1,370 m (1,500 yards)

Bullet feed system belt 250-round

TONIA COWAN/THE GLOBE AND MAIL

SOURCE: RCMP, FAS. ORG, BROWNING, GOOGLE 3D WAREHOUSE

[camper]

We're smuggling them to wherever is going to help the antis make them illegal.

Soon, you'll hear reports that the discharge from a round is causing a high carbon emission, and that every day a gun range is open means one year less the earth will be able to support life.

camper

[wis bang]

Wouldn't a 30cal be over 30 yrs old? Doesn't the M-60 SAW date back to 'Nam? Don't think Uncle Sam would still be making the 30 Cal...

[RCN]

"Most of the illegal weapons like this are military surplus that have been obtained by legitimate military groups and then sold illegally."

What is a legitimate military group? Would that not be the Military?

The machine gun, a fully automatic .30-calibre Browning, was among 41 weapons seized by the RCMP on Wednesday during a raid on a ramshackle acreage just south of Nanaimo. (Police originally mistook the machine gun for a .50-calibre weapon.) The raid also netted two semi-automatic assault rifles, hundreds of rounds of ammunition, grenades, blasting caps, detonator cords, a half-kilo of cocaine and more than $50,000 in cash.
Print Edition - Section Front

Obviously good law abiding citizens.

"Unless that fully automatic Browning is more than 30 years old, there's no way to legally bring it into Canada," Mr. Mauser said, adding that any Canadian interested in buying a similar weapon in the United States would have to deal on the black market.

Uh, yes most likely 30+ years old if it is indeed a Browning.

RCMP seized a military-grade machine gun like this one south of Nanaimo. The Browing can be used with or without a tripod

Without a tripod, that is one bad dude....

Okay I will buy using a bipod

THE .30 CALIBRE BROWNING LIGHT MACHINE GUN

Rate of fire 400-600 round/min.

Muzzle velocity 853.6 m/s

Effective range 1,370 m (1,500 yards)

Bullet feed system belt 250-round

Way to cite Wikipedia

[wa3ra]

Yep, Last .30 browning MG was built in 1964, production ended with the M-60 being built by the same production line.

I'll wager there are still a bunch in cosmolene and cardboard in some NG armories.

The groups that they are talking about are the RCMP, various provincial police units that are arranged on a military model, Royal Canadian Cadet Corps, and the police forces of the native groups (mainly Inuit)

[dc dalton]

Excuse me but I didn't see anywhere in that article that said they were coming from the US.

[PA Rifleman]

I wonder if it's one of the MGs stolen at the Valley Forge Gun Show recently.

[wa3ra]

any Canadian interested in buying a similar weapon in the United States would have to deal on the black market...

[dallas038]

Just to set the record straight. The RCMP don't know shit from shineola. First they said they had a 50 cal, used by the military in Iraq, and the papers reported it could shoot down planes and blow up cars. None of this is true.

And a special reply to this fellow:

It's almost certainly a smuggled weapon," said Gary Mauser, a retired Simon Fraser University business professor who has lectured extensively on the criminal use of firearms.

No Mr. Mauser, you are not an expert in anything except B.S.

And to PA rifleman, whom questions :

I wonder if it's one of the MGs stolen at the Valley Forge Gun Show recently. Again No, you are not even close.

The 30 calibre browning in question which has be made out to be so scary is a legally bought de-activated war relic. It is welded shut and is incapable of firing. It was bought legally from a gun & tackle shop in Ontario.

The RCMP have a very bad public image right now with all of their heavy handedness, and Taser killing of the Polish Immigrant at Vancouver Airport, and subsequently were caught lying in BC supreme court about the circumstances of his death. They are trying to build their image in the eyes of the public, but are failing miserably.

They set up this Browning on the tripod and put the bullet belt in it and were photographed for local papers. It is just a bunch of Hogwash! The lawyer has been granted a publication ban because of this lying.


People have to not believe everything they read, or what some has-been expert surmises.

[wa3ra]

I just noticed the 'professors' name...

Ironic, isn't it?

Mauser