Oak Bay Police destroy nearly 70 guns that were handed over to department

Cleaning day was more eventful than most for Oak Bay Police, as the department destroyed a whopping 68 guns, most of which were handed over to them by civilians.

The vast array of firearms were stored in the department’s Exhibit Room which needed to be cleared out for space, according to Deputy Chief Ray Bernoties.

Most of the weapons were turned in to the department, while a few of them were seized from suspects, along with other common weapons and breaking-in tools.

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“Many people inherit guns or possess old guns that they don’t use anymore and they just want to safely get rid of them,” Bernoties tells Victoria Buzz. Lots of guns are also turned in in the aftermath of a provincial gun amnesty announcement.

Over the course of Tuesday, the weapons were “cut, twisted, and squished” with other large metal objects in order to safely dispose of them.

While most of the guns met this crushing fate, what appears to be a duelling set from the 1800s was kept aside by staff for appraisal by professionals at the Royal BC Museum.

In a Twitter response to Oak Bay Police, the Royal BC Museum account thanked police for thinking of them, and added a unique historical moment from their archives.

Once these guns have been checked out by the museum, we could be treated to a story of unique artifacts and their ties to the province’s history.

Stay tuned!