'Gun' Control: Toronto Police Boast Ridiculous Street Trophies
Police in Canada's largest city have kept a running photo series of guns "taken off the streets" and, in a way, they tell more of a story about failed firearm control than crime.
The city, home of the Blue Jays, Maple Leafs, and Raptors, boasts nearly 3 million residents known and unknown, placing it roughly between Chicago and Los Angeles in size. Likewise, the 7,500-strong Toronto Police Service, funded by a $1 billion annual budget, is the largest municipal law enforcement agency in Canada.
Since 2019, the TPS has served up over 500 hot and ready posts to a dedicated Twitter feed – Guns Seized #offthestreets – of firearms taken into custody, and some of them are absolute gold.
What kind of streets? Cobblestone?
Best reply posted to this percussion pistol: "I, Uhm, feel much safer? I hope the highwayman that owned this has been flogged, chastised, and firmly secured in shackles."
"This just confirms that we do indeed have a serious gun problem in Canada."
This vintage French MAB A .25 ACP pistol is WAC. These were imported to the U.S. in the 1950s by the California-based Winfield Arms Corporation, hence the grips.
Ah, the Kimel Industries Model 5000, one of the best $30 .32s you could get.
This crusty snubby earned the comment: "Looks like it had already been off the streets (and under the ground) for several decades until you dug it up actually."
On this baby Glock – a type restricted from possession in Canada, so it technically shouldn't exist there, yet it somehow does: "I think that’s less out of the street and more out of the river ..."
And another example of "ban it and it will disappear." How about that selector switch?
Just chop em down
A favorite tactic in Toronto among those with moody guns in a city where handguns are sometimes tough to get legally seems to be to just grab a hacksaw.
"Does a flag shoot out of it when you pull the trigger?"
This poor Savage 99 earned the reply: "What’s the pony express dude gonna do when there’s a pack of wolves?"
"This what George Washington slid on the British with."
No, Bubba, no! That's a U.S. M1917 Enfield. "The biggest criminal here is the idiot that cut that once-awesome rifle up like that."
If you add enough tape, you can give your abbreviated Savage 64F street cred.
This Auto-5 used to be beautiful.
This chopped down SXS has gotten the Fitz trigger guard treatment, earning the reply: "I am guessing that one's gotta be tough to shove down your pants and go for a walk."
Speaking of used to be beautiful, look what they did to my boy.
Wait, what?
Hope that is an extended eye relief optic.
Unicorns
With that being said, from time to time the TPS hits the jackpot and gets something truly head-turning.
How about the Walther MPL SMG, likely stolen from a collector or LE source.
That Sterling, though.
A Chinese Norinco T-97.
And, of course, a pen gun. A favorite DIY home build for decades around the world.
