A former federal politician in Manitoba has been charged after police say they seized hundreds of improperly stored firearms from his home last week.
Mounties seized 439 firearms found inside Inky Mark’s home near the western Manitoba city of Dauphin during a July 7 search, Manitoba RCMP Cpl. Barry Kirby said at a Monday news conference.
Police also seized an antique cannon, ammunition and more than $300,000 in currency, he said.
“It’s expected to take several weeks for investigators to document the large collection of evidence gathered at the residence and determine how many firearms were illegally possessed,” Kirby said.
At least three of the firearms found inside his home were illegally trafficked, police allege. One had a tampered serial number and hundreds were improperly stored, Kirby said.
Mark, 78, was arrested at his home during the police search. He has been charged with a dozen weapons-related offences, including firearms trafficking, possession of a firearm with a tampered serial number, three counts of unsafe firearms storage, two counts of careless use of a firearm and two counts of possession of a prohibited device, Kirby said.
More charges against Mark are possible as the investigation progresses, Kirby said. He appeared in court last week and was later released with conditions.
He’s expected back in court on Aug. 11, a court spokesperson told CBC News.
Mark is a former MP who represented the Dauphin-Swan River-Neepawa riding from 1997 until he resigned in 2010. He served as MP first with the Reform party, and later with the Canadian Alliance and finally as a Conservative.
He ran unsuccessfully for the seat again in 2015 as an independent.
Prior to his time as an MP, he was elected mayor of Dauphin in 1994. He ran unsuccessfully for that position again in 2010.
CBC News has reached out to Mark for comment.
The charges against him are some of the most serious ever laid against a current or former Manitoba MP, University of Manitoba political scientist Chris Adams told CBC News.
Mark called for lax gun laws in 2012
Investigators searched Mark’s home after another Dauphin-area man was charged with firearms-related offences in the U.S. earlier this year, Kirby said.
Charges were laid against Wilfred Kachurowski, 73, in Minnesota in March, after a handgun was stolen at a gun show two days earlier, RCMP previously said.
Police said at the time they found seven firearms, at least two of which were identified as being stolen from the U.S., at Kachurowski’s home in the rural municipality of Dauphin in April.
Kachurowski was later charged in Manitoba with seven weapons-related offences, including trafficking, unsafe storage and importing weapons knowing they are unauthorized.
Kirby says a search warrant connected with Kachurowski’s case led RCMP to find and seize firearms allegedly purchased by Mark, which police allege were “never lawfully transferred.”
A motive is unclear, he said.
“We know he’s a firearm collector, but that’s really all that we know,” said Kirby.
Asked if Mark had any signs with political messages displayed on his property, Kirby said that he did have “some signs on his property,” but he wasn’t aware exactly what they said.
Mark said in a 2012 letter to the Western Producer newspaper that “all firearms laws should be removed” from Canada’s Criminal Code.
Trafficked weapons ‘difficult to trace’
Kirby says licensed gun owners can possess as many firearms as they want but it’s illegal to traffic or unsafely store the weapons.
Non-restricted firearms, including most shotguns and rifles, must be unloaded and secured with a trigger lock or locked in a cabinet, container or room difficult to break into, RCMP say.
Restricted and prohibited firearms like handguns must be secured with a trigger lock and placed in a locked cabinet, container or room difficult to break into, or be placed in a locked vault, safe or room specifically intended to store firearms.
Scott McMurchy, assistant commissioner and commanding officer of the Manitoba RCMP, reminded gun owners to store their weapons safely.
“Most firearm owners understand these obligations and take [them] seriously,” he said at the news conference.
When stolen guns end up in the wrong hands, they can fuel violence and support organized crime, McMurchy said.
“Trafficking of illegal firearms is not just about the weapons themselves, it’s about the crimes that those weapons can enable,” he said. “Generally speaking, these weapons are unregistered and can be difficult to trace.”
RCMP seized 439 weapons and a vintage cannon from Inky Mark’s home last week. He represented Dauphin-Swan River for 13 years as an MP for three conservative parties.
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