In early May, police in Mississauga seized approximately 3,200 TOY handguns from a local gift shop. The police, justifying their action, publicly stated that the toy guns could easily be confused for real guns. But, the concern is that the plastic toys are NOT illegal in Canada. That s right, the police department acted on its own volition and confiscated private property because it wanted to.
Totalitarianism is truly here.
Noel Catney, police chief for Peel Region, said that he sought the advice of legal experts and decided that, while the weapons were not illegal, they should be banned. Under current legislation, replica firearms are restricted in so far as they are made of wood, metals, or moulded rubber. While the plastic toys that were seized are not, by definition, covered under the legislation, the Peel Region police have decided to take a zero-tolerance stand on the issue and confiscate anything it feels breaks the law. The owners of the gift shop are both surprised and out of money. Police, who came to the shop a week before the confiscation, had asked the shop-owners to voluntarily take the plastic guns off of the shelves.