The owner of a gun and ammunition store in Surrey says people have been flocking to buy handguns after the Liberal government announced Monday it has tabled legislation that seeks to freeze handgun sales across the country. The owner of International Shooting Supplies says he sold a month’s worth of handgun sales in one day, while some of his competitors have had to close their doors in order to replenish their stock. The Liberals’ proposed legislation would not ban handguns outright, allowing existing owners to keep and continue to use them. Stats show the number of registered handguns in Canada increased by just over 70 per cent between 2010 and 2020, reaching 1.1 million.
Authorities say a gunman carrying a rifle and handgun killed four people at a medical building on a hospital campus in Tulsa, Oklahoma. The attacker has not been identified but police say he died of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound. Police say the victims and gunman were found on the second floor of a medical building where an orthopedic clinic is located. Officials will hold a news conference later today to release more information.
Surrey Mayor Doug McCallum will be “temporarily absent” from his duties as chair of the Surrey Police Board pending the outcome of October’s municipal election. A statement from the Surrey Police Board explains the Board and McCallum agreed the Mayor will be absent from all board meetings “for the next few months.” A current board member will be elected to that role until after the municipal election.
Police say they’re investigating after a 67-year-old man was seriously injured in an alleged stabbing by a man wielding a knife and a machete in East Vancouver. They say it unfolded yesterday morning at a gas station where a man hit a pedestrian with his vehicle, then got out and reportedly punched a passerby before turning back to the pedestrian and stabbing him in the neck and back. They say officers arrived within moments of a 9-1-1 call and arrested the 61-year-old suspect as he attempted to steal a motorbike parked at the gas station.
Politicians in B-C are headed back to their home ridings after a four-month legislative session where health and affordability were the dominant issues. The session also saw the legislature return to its pre-COVID-19 routines after two years of virtual news conferences and hybrid sittings. Premier John Horgan was a regular presence in the legislature after undergoing cancer treatment late last year, but he also missed some time after contracting COVID-19.
Four days of celebrations honouring Queen Elizabeth’s 70 years on the throne are getting underway in the U-K. The Queen is expected to join members of her family on the balcony of Buckingham Palace later today as 70 planes fly overhead. The 96-year-old is Britain’s longest-reigning monarch and the first to serve for seven decades.
The jury will resume deliberations today in the sexual assault trial of Canadian musician Jacob Hoggard. They began deliberating Tuesday afternoon after receiving detailed instructions from the judge. Hoggard has pleaded not guilty to two counts of sexual assault causing bodily harm and one count of sexual interference.