Maybe they should issue the B.C. Conservation Officer a Marlin SBL and see what they can turn up at the crime scene.
RCMP are invited, too...
SheriffJoe;
Good evening to you sir, I trust all is well with you tonight.
While it may - or as the case may be - may not interest you or other gentle readers to know that the BC Conservation Officer service has been armed for quite a good long while now - used to be they carried a fixed sight L Frame Smith in .357, but like a lot of the LEO world now carry .40 Glocks of some vintage.
Also they don't typically investigate crimes involving human deaths, though they are sworn peace officers and as such can be called on to diversify their duties if the need arises.
It's a horrible shame what happened to these two young folks and I have no other information on what occurred other than is available on the usual news services.
As Steve mentioned, we do not have the right to be armed here in Canada - it's considered a privilege that one can earn and conversely lose as well.
At one point in my life, as well as being a provincially certified to give exams for the the Hunter Safety Course, I was also a Federally Certified Instructor/Examiner and gave the courses and tests required to obtain a firearm here.
It's not really a tough thing to do if one has a mind to - but it does cost time and money and is not considered an inherent right by our highest court.
For residents however, just to be clear - when we're traveling in the hinterlands - it is very legal and in fact in my part of BC not unusual whatsoever for folks to be armed, but it will be with a rifle or shotgun and not a sidearm.
None of this is to say I'm personally pleased with the status quo or not working to see it changed - merely to state the way it is and nothing more.
I trust that was at least peripherally useful information for you or someone out there in the ether space this evening sir.
All the best to you as we head into the fall.
Dwayne
