On October 6, the United States Attorney’s Office in Seattle announced that James Cody Bryant, a 30-year-old Washington resident, was charged with conspiring to murder people in a foreign country.
The FBI affidavit contains several references to guns that the shooter had access to, including an SKS semi-automatic, a Canuck brand shotgun and a KRISS Vector.
The KRISS Vector is currently prohibited in Canada, though owners of this weapon have amnesty, as there are four challenges to the prohibition before the Supreme Court.
The gun control advocacy group PolySeSouvient quickly came forward, calling for a ban on the SKS. “The Carney government cannot keep ignoring this weapon,” they said in a release on October 7. “SKS sales must stop immediately, and the model must be prohibited. Additional reviews and consultations will not change what everyone can plainly see: this is a highly lethal weapon that has no place in the hands of ordinary civilians.”
A ban on assault weapons means little if some models remain legal and devices that make guns more deadly are easily accessible, they argue. “Modifiable magazines, dual magazines and a series of exemptions help mass shooters increase the lethality of any gun, including turning ordinary firearms into quasi-assault weapons.
“Astoundingly, one can legally purchase a non-restricted SKS with a 48-round drum magazine ‘pinned’ at five rounds – while such pins are easily removable according to the RCMP, as several mass shooters have done. All assault weapons need to be banned, and all magazine loopholes closed. The families of Tumbler Ridge and all Canadians horrified by this tragedy deserve action, not more consultations. The evidence is right in front of us. The government must act now.”
However, the Canadian Shooting Sports Association (CSSA) says that it hasn’t been established that the SKS was used to kill anyone.
Indeed, they argue, there is a lot of information that is not public knowledge that should be known before a decision is made. For instance, there is a reference to a “switch” for the SKS, which the FBI interprets in their affidavit as likely referring to a machine-gun conversion device. However, says the CSSA, “It does not establish what the ‘switch’ really was, whether it existed or whether it functioned as the killer intended, nor does it establish why the firearm was originally confiscated, who legally owned it, what legal authority governed its return or what information was available to police and other decision-makers at the time.”
These aren’t minor qualifications, argues the CSSA. “They’re the centre of the story. The RCMP previously said that the principal firearm believed to have caused the greatest harm at the school had never been seized by the force and that its origin remained unknown.” Yet the SKS had been confiscated by the police and returned, leading to the shooter to complain they had knocked the sites out.
“On October 8, Prime Minister Mark Carney said the government would consider advice from its arm’s-length firearms-classification panel before deciding whether to change the SKS rifle’s legal status,” says the CSSA. “‘Gun-control’ advocates renewed their demands for an immediate prohibition of the SKS. But public Safety Minister Gary Anandasangaree, said it would be irresponsible to identify the firearms used while the Canadian investigation remains active.”
A publication ban remains in place, preventing the RCMP from disclosing any information about the firearms, including giving context about the firearms mentioned in the court filings.
“There may be legitimate investigative and legal limits on what can be disclosed today, but those limits don’t erase the questions being asked. They make a complete, verified, public account even more important, not less,” says the CSSA. “Canadians need to know: What prompted the earlier firearm seizure? Which firearms were seized, from whom, and under what authority? What process led to their return, and what conditions or risk assessments applied? Did the killer have a valid firearms licence at any relevant time? Were police, licensing officials, health authorities or family members holding separate pieces of information that were never assembled into a usable warning? Which firearms were actually used at each scene, how were they obtained, and which—if any—had previously been in police custody?”
They argue that licensed firearms owners understand what’s at stake, undergoing safety training, background screening and continuous-eligibility checks. “They comply with storage and transportation rules designed to prevent unauthorized access.
“When a mass murder reveals the theft of guns from a family gun safe, that ammunition was obtained through another person, the possible illegal modification of a firearm and a prior police intervention, those issues all deserve careful examination. If storage rules were breached, establish how. If an unlicensed person obtained ammunition through someone else, establish who knew what and when they knew it. If an earlier seizure was followed by a lawful return, explain the evidence and legal process. If existing authorities were inadequate, identify the precise gap. If existing authorities were available but relevant information was missed or fragmented, plainly say that too.”
They argue that reclassifying another firearm before answering those questions may satisfy the demand for immediate action, but “it does not prove that banning another firearm would have prevented this mass murder.
“The victims, their families and the people of Tumbler Ridge deserve far more than speculation. So do Canadians who are being asked to accept another firearm prohibition in the name of lessons that the government, so far, has refused to publicly document. Before Ottawa decides what to ban next, it must explain what was known, what was done and where the system actually failed. Only then can rational decisions be made in the name of ‘public safety.’”
The government has said they won’t make any decisions until the Firearms Classification Technical Advisory Group has discussed the issue; they are expected to be meeting sometime this fall, though the group was struck almost a year ago.
Since May 2020, Ottawa has outlawed approximately 2,500 types of guns on the basis they belong only on the battlefield.
While the SKS is under review, advocates point out that it is a popular gun with First Nations sustenance hunters.
Trent is the publisher of Tumbler RidgeLines.
