Steven Mace
04-02-2002, 04:12 AM
Mar. 29, 2002. 01:00 AM
Starter pistol ruling upheld
Gun considered firearm, appeal court says
Tracey Tyler
Legal Affairs Reporter
Ontario's highest court has upheld a landmark ruling classifying a starter's pistol as a firearm and left a sports store clerk facing an automatic year in jail for selling one to an undercover police officer.
"He's a small fry, a small sales guy with a family and limited income who now has to step into custody for a year," lawyer Joseph Neuberger said yesterday after his client, Pradeep Goswami, surrendered to begin a mandatory jail sentence for gun trafficking.
"These stores were targeted," Neuberger said.
Goswami was working at King Sol Outdoors Stores on Queen St. W. in Toronto when he was charged with possessing and transferring firearms in 1999, after starter's pistols started showing up in street crimes. Some had been converted to fire .22-or .32-calibre bullets, while others were used in their original condition
In December, 2000, the province passed legislation restricting the sale of imitation weapons to people over 18 and banning the sale of starter's pistols that can be modified to fire live ammunition. The issue in Goswami's appeal came down to whether he knew the pistol would be used as a gun.
An officer entered the store on July 7, 1999. He explained he was looking for a starter's pistol and wanted to drill out the gun, asking Goswami if he knew how.
Goswami replied he didn't know, didn't want to talk about it and said that could lead to "a lot of trouble."
He asked Goswami to show him a screw that had to be removed in order to drill it out.
Goswami removed a red tab with pliers and handed the pistol back to the officer. The officer peered into the barrel, noticed a metal piece and asked if that was the screw.
Goswami shrugged.
He sold the officer the pistol but refused to sell him the ammunition.
The officer returned July 13 with a hidden tape recorder. He bought six Kimar 92 pistols and two boxes of ammunition.
The defence argued that Goswami should be acquitted on the basis of Criminal Code provisions that say a weapon won't be considered a firearm if it is designed exclusively for firing blank cartridges and is intended to be used exclusively for that purpose.
The trial judge, Mr. Justice Eugene Ewaschuk, ruled the criteria weren't met and convicted Goswami. Writing for the Ontario Court of Appeal yesterday, Madam Justice Kathryn Feldman effectively accepted the pistol was designed to fire blank cartridges — but said Goswami still knew the gun wasn't intended to be used just for that purpose.
http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1017356518771
Steve Mace
Starter pistol ruling upheld
Gun considered firearm, appeal court says
Tracey Tyler
Legal Affairs Reporter
Ontario's highest court has upheld a landmark ruling classifying a starter's pistol as a firearm and left a sports store clerk facing an automatic year in jail for selling one to an undercover police officer.
"He's a small fry, a small sales guy with a family and limited income who now has to step into custody for a year," lawyer Joseph Neuberger said yesterday after his client, Pradeep Goswami, surrendered to begin a mandatory jail sentence for gun trafficking.
"These stores were targeted," Neuberger said.
Goswami was working at King Sol Outdoors Stores on Queen St. W. in Toronto when he was charged with possessing and transferring firearms in 1999, after starter's pistols started showing up in street crimes. Some had been converted to fire .22-or .32-calibre bullets, while others were used in their original condition
In December, 2000, the province passed legislation restricting the sale of imitation weapons to people over 18 and banning the sale of starter's pistols that can be modified to fire live ammunition. The issue in Goswami's appeal came down to whether he knew the pistol would be used as a gun.
An officer entered the store on July 7, 1999. He explained he was looking for a starter's pistol and wanted to drill out the gun, asking Goswami if he knew how.
Goswami replied he didn't know, didn't want to talk about it and said that could lead to "a lot of trouble."
He asked Goswami to show him a screw that had to be removed in order to drill it out.
Goswami removed a red tab with pliers and handed the pistol back to the officer. The officer peered into the barrel, noticed a metal piece and asked if that was the screw.
Goswami shrugged.
He sold the officer the pistol but refused to sell him the ammunition.
The officer returned July 13 with a hidden tape recorder. He bought six Kimar 92 pistols and two boxes of ammunition.
The defence argued that Goswami should be acquitted on the basis of Criminal Code provisions that say a weapon won't be considered a firearm if it is designed exclusively for firing blank cartridges and is intended to be used exclusively for that purpose.
The trial judge, Mr. Justice Eugene Ewaschuk, ruled the criteria weren't met and convicted Goswami. Writing for the Ontario Court of Appeal yesterday, Madam Justice Kathryn Feldman effectively accepted the pistol was designed to fire blank cartridges — but said Goswami still knew the gun wasn't intended to be used just for that purpose.
http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1017356518771
Steve Mace