WARMINGTON: Another day, another loaded illegal gun seized by courageous Peel police
· Toronto Sun
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That’s 17 bullets that didn’t end up killing somebody, embedded inside a synagogue, or in the side of a moving vehicle.
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And, thanks to Peel Regional Police, it’s a handgun that won’t be used in a crime in the future. But there are plenty more guns out there. Plenty of rounds of ammunition too.
At least they got this one. Actually, it’s a lot more than that. For 2026, “it’s 44 crime guns” seized in Peel Region, said Deputy Chief Marc Andrews .
When he started as a young constable 37 years ago, a veteran of the Canadian Armed Forces for five years before that as well, gun seizures were rare.
“We wouldn’t have seen 44 guns in a year,” said Andrews.
Now they see them all the time. Or the damage coming from people illegally using them.
Legal gun owners, collectors, target shooters and hunters are not the problem. They store them appropriately and follow the rules. The criminal element on the street is where the problem is.
My last column was of someone on Hwy. 401 saw their moving car near Winston Churchill Blvd. be riddled with at least eight bullets by a shooter in another car. It’s unclear if this was a targeted event or road rage. Whatever it was, the driver wounded from flying glass is fortunate to not have been struck by gunfire.
That was not related to this case. But it gives an idea of how serious a problem illegal guns and ammunition can be.
Gun seized during routine traffic stop
This latest gun seized by police in Peel comes out of what some refer to as a routine traffic stop. Of course, there is no such thing. As common as finding a loaded gun in a car or on a person operating one has become, officers never get used to dealing with this risk.
“On Saturday, May 17, at approximately 1:35 a.m., officers conducted a traffic stop in the area of Torbram Road and Drew Road,” said police.
There were some clues and some alleged violations that prompted police to take a closer look.
“The occupants were detained under the authority of the Cannabis Act,” said police, adding “a subsequent search of the vehicle resulted in the seizure of a loaded illegally possessed handgun and a magazine containing ammunition.”
Nasty.
When you look at this gun, it’s like something from a gangster movie. It’s brown in colour in a plastic composite casing. Police say it’s a Glock 17 model that can be obtained legally by legal gun owners in the United States that is the type of semiautomatic firearm that can hold 17 bullets.
Seized firearm illegal in Canada
This particular model is now illegal to purchase in Canada (some collectors are grandfathered and do own them legally). Andrews said police are tracking the gun this week to try to determine where it came from and if it may have been involved in any previous crimes.
The bullets officers seized in this case are interesting as well. They are a “mix and match” of different bullets. “Getting a gun is easier than ammo,” said one gun expert. “The criminals take whatever they can. Mix and match is an indicator that they weren’t legal gun owners. The ammo would be the same.”
Meanwhile, two men were taken into custody and they have been held for bail hearings.
Tyrell Foote, 25, of Mississauga, and Kieshawn Morgan, 20, of Toronto are charged with unauthorized possession of a firearm, carrying a concealed weapon, unauthorized possession of a prohibited device or ammunition, knowledge of unauthorized possession of a firearm, possession of a loaded prohibited or restricted firearm, possession of a prohibited device or ammunition knowing its possession is unauthorized, occupant of motor vehicle knowing there was a firearm and careless storage of a firearm, weapon, prohibited device or ammunition.
Foote was also charged with having care and control of a vehicle with cannabis readily available while Morgan was also charged with breaching a probation order since police say “at the time of his arrest, Morgan was bound by a probation order stemming from a previous criminal conviction.”
None of these charges have been tested in court and there is no suggestion, at this point, that they, or this particular gun, were involved in other crimes. They are considered innocent until proven guilty.
Many people packing weapons like this
There is nothing courageous about carrying around a loaded gun. There is something courageous about being the cops who have to pull over people carrying something like this. Perhaps this isn’t the biggest or most important newspaper story of the weekend, but it is positive news to have any loaded illegal gun, illegally in the hands of someone not licensed to carry one off the streets – even though police know there will be more out there. Crime statistics show there are so many people moving around the Greater Toronto Area packing weapons like this, which is a concern for police and the community.
“This is excellent work by our frontline officers who are dealing with firearms at a cadence that is unprecedented in Canadian policing history,” said Andrews.
Sometimes the police can intercept a gun and bullets before there is any damage or carnage inflicted.
That’s what happened this time. But it doesn’t happen every time.