Queens County man charged with making 3D-printed weapons, P.E.I. RCMP say
Social Sharing
A 50-year-old man from Queens County, P.E.I., faces five charges that include firearms manufacturing after police seized a number of 3D-printed weapons last month.
The accused is being held in custody and is scheduled to appear in court on Wednesday for a bail hearing.
On Feb. 24, Queens District RCMP received information that the man was making threats online and arrested him at his home, according to a news release from the P.E.I. RCMP's Federal Serious and Organized Crime Unit, or FSOC.
Officers executed a search warrant at the home the next day and seized a number of weapons, including knives, a crossbow and several 3D-printed firearm parts.
The man has been charged with one count each of uttering threats, possession of a weapon while under a court-ordered prohibition, firearms manufacturing, and two counts of possession of a weapon for a dangerous purpose.
Cpl. Gavin Moore, the P.E.I. RCMP's media relations officer, said this is the first time he's aware of that the seizure of 3D-printed guns has led to charges on the Island.
"We do know that this is a technology that is being adopted more and more," Moore said. "It's important that, should anybody have any information about the printing of firearms, that they report that and help keep Islanders safe."
3D-printed guns fall into a category of homemade firearms referred to as "ghost guns," in part because they are untraceable. They have no serial number because the printed part of the gun is the receiver, among the parts that are regulated in Canada.
Plans for producing these firearms are readily available online, and the items can be made using a consumer-grade 3D printer.
Moore said the mandatory minimum sentence for firearms manufacturing is one year in jail, up to a maximum of 10 years.
The FSOC is leading the P.E.I. investigation with assistance from the National Weapons Enforcement Team, a unit of firearms experts that helps the RCMP with weapons cases.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
CTV News
13-06-2025
- CTV News
P.E.I. RCMP seeks help identifying men involved in alleged indecent acts
An RCMP detachment can be seen in this file photo. (David Prisciak/CTV News) Police on Prince Edward Island are asking the public for help identifying two men allegedly involved in separate indecent acts. RCMP officers responded to the first report of a man engaged in an indecent act on June 4 around 3 p.m. A witness was biking in the area of Gulf Shore Parkway in Cavendish when they saw a white, family-type van. Police say the van was parked with the side door open and the witness saw a man engaged in an indecent act. Police describe the man as heavier set, with a reddish/grey beard. He was wearing a blue shirt. Officers responded to a second incident Wednesday after receiving a report of a man engaged in an indecent act near a trail along Autumn Lane in North Rustico. Police say a witness saw the man on a property adjacent to the trail and believe the alleged incident occurred between noon and 12:20 p.m. Police describe the suspect as five-foot-eight, with a thin build. He was wearing a blue shirt, dark hat and light blue beach shorts. Police do not believe the man is the same person involved in the Cavendish incident. The RCMP has released a photo of the suspect in hopes it will help identify him. RCMP A man is pictured in a handout photo from the P.E.I. RCMP. Police ask anyone with information about either incident to contact Queens District RCMP at 902-368-9300 or PEI Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477. For more P.E.I. news, visit our dedicated provincial page.
CTV News
04-06-2025
- CTV News
North Vancouver teacher's 9 convictions for sex crimes against young boys survive Charter challenge
Dennis Cooper is seen in a 1977 class photo with his Grade 6 teacher Brian Moore. Cooper is one of two victims of Moore who successfully had the publication ban on their identities lifted. (Dennis Cooper) An 85-year-old former teacher has lost his bid to have nine convictions for historical sex crimes against young boys thrown out. In a decision issued last week, Judge Robert Hamilton dismissed various legal arguments from Brian Melicke Moore about why delays in the case should result in a stay of proceedings. Moore was convicted in North Vancouver provincial court earlier this year of eight counts of indecent assault and one count of touching for a sexual purpose. He was acquitted of three other counts of indecent assault. All of the indecent assault convictions stem from conduct that occurred between 1976 and 1982, while Moore was a Grade 6 teacher in North Vancouver. The other conviction relates to an incident involving the child of a good friend at Moore's home between 2005 and 2007. Moore's sentencing hearing in the case is scheduled for July, according to Hamilton's decision. While allegations against Moore first came to the attention of police in 1988, the decision indicates he was told by investigators and Crown prosecutors at the time that 'they would not pursue charges against him unless more information came forward.' In applications to the court, Moore argued that there had been a 34-year delay in bringing the charges against him, breaching his rights under Sections 7 and 11 of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. He also argued that proceeding with the prosecution after such a delay was an abuse of process by the Crown, and that an additional delay between his arrest in August 2022 and the laying of charges in February 2023 was also a Charter violation. The 34-year delay Hamilton rejected the premise of Moore's first argument, writing in his decision that 'there was no 34-year delay' in bringing charges against the teacher. Rather, the judge determined that the case was essentially 'dormant' until new information was brought to police in 2022. 'The Crown told Mr. Moore in 1988 that no charges would be laid, absent more information,' the decision reads. 'It took 34 years for that additional information to come to the attention of the police and Crown and over the course of one year, June 2022 to June 2023, the police interviewed the complainants in this case, forwarded that information to the Crown, and the Crown approved the charges that came before me at trial.' Moore argued that the threat of charges had loomed over him since 1988, though Hamilton noted that the teacher had provided no evidence of the physical or psychological toll that this knowledge had taken on him. Indeed, the judge added, if such a toll existed because Moore knew that there was other information about his crimes that could come to light and cause charges to be laid, that would not be the Crown's fault. 'I would characterize the stress and psychological/physical toll that Mr. Moore has been under since 1988 as being self-inflicted, but nothing to be laid at the feet of the police or Crown,' the decision reads. Abuse of process On the question of abuse of process, Hamilton noted that he had dismissed a previous application from Moore that sought to stay the proceedings for the same reason. 'In my view, nothing has changed from the facts advanced in support of the earlier abuse of process allegation and now at the end of the trial,' the judge's decision reads. It notes that the legal concept of abuse of process involves a two-stage test. First, the court must consider whether the conduct of the prosecution has affected the accused's right to a fair trial, something Moore conceded had not happened in his case. Second, the court must consider whether the prosecution's conduct undermines the integrity of the justice system. Hamilton found no such issue, noting that the Crown did had honoured its 1988 statement to Moore that he would not be charged unless new information came forward, and finding that the Crown did 'exactly what the public would expect' once such information was revealed. Pursuing the case based on new information after 34 years did not undermine the integrity of the justice system, the judge concluded. 'In my view, the opposite proposition is accurate, that being that if the Crown did not prosecute these allegations against Mr. Moore, that failure to prosecute would undermine the integrity of the judicial system,' the decision reads. 'The evidence in this case against Mr. Moore was overwhelming. Failing to bring justice to Mr. Moore's victims would shake the confidence of the public in our justice system. This prosecution needed to happen.' The undertaking deadline Finally, Moore argued that his Charter rights were violated when the Crown failed to charge him in a timely manner after his arrest. According to the decision, the teacher was arrested on Aug. 4, 2022, and released on a police undertaking that imposed various conditions on him and set a first court appearance for Dec. 7 of that year. However, the charges against Moore were not laid until Feb. 15, 2023, which was well after the court date set in the undertaking. 'Mr. Moore says that because of the failure by the Crown to approve charges by Dec. 7, 2022, there should be a stay of proceedings in this case,' the decision reads. Hamilton disagreed with this proposition, noting that police set the Dec. 7 first appearance date without input from prosecutors. 'To enter a stay of proceedings because the Crown had not yet reached a conclusion about whether to approve charges in a case dating back to between 1976 and 2005, involving 12 complainants, on or before a date the police selected without any Crown input, in my view, would not only bring the administration of justice into disrepute, such a decision would serve (as) an injustice to the complainants that no informed member of society would endorse,' the decision reads.
Winnipeg Free Press
03-06-2025
- Winnipeg Free Press
Louisiana lawmakers reject adding exceptions for some rape cases to abortion ban
BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — For the third consecutive year, Louisiana lawmakers rejected a bill that would have allowed young victims of rape to get an abortion. In an emotional and religious-laced legislative committee meeting on Tuesday legislators objected to adding rape, in cases where the girl is under the age of 17 and impregnated as a result of the sexual offense, to the narrow list of exceptions for one of the strictest abortion bans in the country. 'If we're truly pro-life, we should also be fighting for the life of those children who are raped and molested,' said the author of the bill, Democratic Rep. Delisha Boyd, who argued that under Louisiana's current law young victims of rape are forced to carry babies to term. Among those who opposed the proposed exception was Democratic Rep. Patricia Moore, who spoke publicly about being conceived after her mother was raped as a young teenager. While speaking against the bill, Moore discussed her religious beliefs and said she has struggled with her decision on the measure. Even ahead of the meeting she said she asked God to 'show me something in the Bible that can address this.' Moore said in the area of Louisiana that she represents, she is aware of a nine-year-old who is pregnant; 'I'm struggling because life and death, according to our Heavenly Father it's in his hands. I'm like, 'God are you wanting this child… to have a baby? What good can come out of this?'' 'I know we got to protect our children, but to this point right now, I cannot vote 'Yes' because I'm constantly hearing that God would take a bad situation and turn it into good,' Moore said. Like Moore, Boyd has publicly shared that she was born after her mother was raped as a teen. Boyd was born in 1969, four years before abortion became legal under the U.S. Supreme Court's landmark Roe v. Wade ruling. More than five decades later, rape survivors in Louisiana who become pregnant find themselves in a similar situation to Boyd's mother: forced to carry the baby to term in a state that has one of the country's highest maternal mortality rates, or to travel to another state where abortion is still legal. Boyd said while she is grateful to be here, her mother and Moore's mother did not a have a choice to get an abortion in Louisiana. 'I know the Bible. But I also know God gives people the ability to do right and wrong,' Boyd said, urging her lawmakers to give victims of rape and their families the ability to choose if they get an abortion in Louisiana. The bill failed 3-9, with two Democrats siding with Republicans on the committee. In the reliably red state of Louisiana, which is firmly ensconced in the Bible Belt and where even some Democrats oppose abortions, adding exceptions to the near-total abortion ban has been an ongoing battle for advocates — with similar measures failing the last few years. Currently, of the 12 states enforcing abortion bans at all stages of pregnancy, four have exceptions in cases of rape. A study released by the Journal of the American Medical Association found that between July 2022 and January 2024, there were more than 64,000 pregnancies resulting from rape in states where abortion has been banned in all or most cases. Louisiana's abortion law went into effect in 2022 following the U.S. Supreme Court ruling that overturned Roe v. Wade, ending a half-century of the nationwide right to abortion. The only exceptions to the ban are if there is substantial risk of death or impairment to the mother if she continues the pregnancy or in the case of 'medically futile' pregnancies — when the fetus has a fatal abnormality.
