A community member places flowers on a memorial for the victims of the Tumbler Ridge mass shooting during a vigil on Feb. 11.PAIGE TAYLOR WHITE/AFP/Getty Images
R. Blake Brown is a professor of history at Saint Mary’s University and an adjunct professor at the Schulich School of Law at Dalhousie University. He is the author of Arming and Disarming: A History of Gun Control in Canada.
The Tumbler Ridge mass shooting that left eight people plus the perpetrator dead has not resulted in debate about gun control. In part, this is because the RCMP has not disclosed the firearm models used in the shooting.
The limited information provided by police includes that a long gun and a “modified rifle” were found at the school. A shotgun – make and model unknown – was used to kill the shooter’s mother and half-brother at home before the school shooting, police have said. While there may be situations that demand such secrecy, keeping this information from the public prevents important debates about Canada’s gun control regime.
Canadian law enforcement’s reluctance to share information about the firearms used in mass shootings is, historically speaking, new. After the Montreal Massacre on Dec. 6, 1989, police immediately released the make and calibre of the firearm used, and members of Parliament briefly debated on Dec. 8 whether such guns should be available. Similarly, the public was immediately informed of the two models of handguns used in the 1996 Vernon massacre that saw a gunman kill nine people. The Quebec media reported on the firearms carried by the 2006 Dawson College shooter within two days after that incident left 18-year-old Anastasia De Sousa dead and 19 more injured.
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However, in recent years, Canadian police have become extremely reluctant to share information about the firearms employed in mass shootings. For example, the RCMP did not share details about the guns used in the Nova Scotia shooting spree in April, 2020. Canadians only learned in November, 2020, that the gunman in that shooting was armed with a Colt Law Enforcement Carbine, a Sturm Ruger Mini-14 and two handguns when a briefing note for prime minister Justin Trudeau was obtained through access-to-information legislation and reported by the National Post.
Law enforcement will often justify this refusal to release information about firearms because of the need to protect continuing investigations. However, other factors may be at play. For example, releasing details on the firearms used in high-profile incidents may invite criticism of the RCMP’s work in administering Canada’s gun control regime.
Some police may also want to discourage public debate about gun control. The bargaining agent for the RCMP’s front-line members, the National Police Federation, has opposed the ban on assault-style firearms like the AR-15. Many police services have also recently announced they will not assist the federal government in collecting assault-style rifles under the buy-back program that will remove these weapons from the public. Police forces have said that they do not support the effort to remove assault-style rifles from the public because they would rather devote scarce resources to other duties.
However, the changing attitude toward guns held by many rank-and-file officers may also be significant. The militarization of the Canadian police since the 1990s has seen the adoption of more powerful firearms, including assault-style rifles, as regular tools of police work. This has perhaps normalized such weapons in the minds of many front-line officers.
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The firearms industry has also actively marketed the private ownership of assault-style rifles to police. Some police resistance to the prohibition of assault-style rifles may thus stem from their own ownership of such guns.
Regardless of the reason, the widespread practice of non-disclosure has negative public policy consequences. Journalists must turn to weaker sources of information, such as the social-media posts of the Tumbler Ridge shooter’s mother, to speculate about what guns might have been involved.
As the Tumbler Ridge shooting becomes more distant, public attention will wane, meaning that when the details about the guns are finally released, they may not draw much attention. In the meantime, the public and politicians are unable to meaningfully debate what gun control policies might have prevented this horrendous mass shooting.