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‘I don’t think it’s live, I’ve dropped it a few times,' said Abbotsford man with missile on his lawn chair
Police officers are used to dealing with weapons. But not when those weapons are military-grade missiles.
Abbotsford police got a shock Friday when a resident phoned to report he wanted to surrender a missile to authorities, as part of the B.C. gun amnesty program.
At first, they weren’t sure if it was a hoax.
But on arrival at the man’s house, officers discovered the five-foot weapon was real — apparently a memento belonging to a relative who had returned a decade ago from a tour of duty with the Canadian military.“You think of people going on tours of duty, but not necessarily bringing back a missile,” Const. Ian MacDonald said of the potentially lethal souvenir.
“It’s always more convenient to keep your munitions at someone else’s house I guess,” he said.
When police arrived, they found the homeowner had perched the missile precariously on a lawn chair.
“He tried to reassure us by saying, ‘I don’t think it’s live, I’ve dropped it a few times,” Const. MacDonald said.
The officers were not terribly reassured.
Wary of a possible detonation, police called in Canadian military officials to remove and dispose of the weapon.
It was, safe to say, the most unusual of the more than 40 guns, rifles and other weapons turned in to Abbotsford police in June during the provincewide month-long gun amnesty.
But it was not the first time the force had encountered heavy artillery in the municipality.
In May 2011, a family called police to turn in an M72 rocket launcher dating to the 1970s from the estate of their relative, a collector of military memorabilia.
It was still operational, but thankfully didn’t come equipped with rockets.
“They did the right thing in contacting us,” Const. MacDonald said, stressing the importance of public safety.
“If somebody doesn’t have any experience with firearms and manage to inherit one of these items, it’s best to dispose of it, whether through a private sale or donation to a museum or turning it over to police.”
Abbotsford plans to continue the weapon amnesty service through the year. Anyone who wishes to turn in an unwanted weapon can do so by calling the department at 604-859-5225.