Weapons charges in Brampton often follow a traffic stop or search. How that search was conducted may be your strongest defence.
What Are the Main Weapons Charges?
The main weapons offences under the Criminal Code include: unauthorized possession of a prohibited or restricted firearm (section 91); possession of a firearm with an altered serial number (section 108); possessing a weapon for a dangerous purpose (section 88); carrying a concealed weapon (section 90); pointing a firearm (section 87); and using a firearm during another crime (section 85). Section 85 adds 1 year for a first offence - on top of any other sentence - and 3 years for a second. Those run consecutive, meaning they stack.
Non-firearm weapons also generate charges. Switchblades, prohibited knives, and other banned items found during a search can result in charges under sections 88 and 91. What you had and where it was found drives the specific charge.
How Do You Challenge a Weapons Charge in Brampton?
Most weapons charges start with a search - a car stop, a pedestrian stop, or a home search. The constitutional validity (whether the search followed the law) of that search is the key issue. If police didn't have lawful grounds, the weapon gets excluded under section 24(2) of the Charter. Without the weapon in evidence, the charge can't survive.
Peel Regional Police have faced Charter challenges on their stop-and-search practices. These challenges succeed regularly. Was the stop arbitrary? Were the grounds for searching real? Did the search go further than the law allows? Those are the questions I look at on every weapons file.
What About Mandatory Minimums?
Many firearms offences used to carry mandatory minimum sentences (the minimum jail term the judge must impose), but several have been struck down by courts under the Charter. The law here is actively changing. You need a lawyer who is current on the case law.
What Happens After a Weapons Charge in Brampton?
After a weapons or firearms charge in Brampton, your first court date at the A. Grenville and William Davis Courthouse is set within weeks. Bail is often contested in these cases - many firearms charges trigger a reverse onus at the bail hearing, meaning you bear the burden of showing why your detention is not justified. Having a lawyer at the bail hearing is critical. For more on bail hearings, see how bail hearings work in Ontario.
Once released, your lawyer requests disclosure. In firearms cases, disclosure often includes surveillance footage, the search warrant and the Information to Obtain (ITO) that supported it, forensic reports on the firearm, and the arresting officer's detailed notes. The ITO is the most important document - it sets out the grounds the officer used to justify the search. If those grounds don't hold up legally, the firearm gets excluded.
Can You Avoid a Criminal Record for Weapons Charges?
Weapons and firearms charges are among the most serious in the Criminal Code and a criminal record on these files is common when the evidence holds. However, where the Charter challenge succeeds and the firearm is excluded, the Crown often has no case left. Where the charge is less serious - possession of a prohibited knife rather than an unlicensed firearm, for example - early resolution without a conviction may be achievable for a first-time offender.
For the full breakdown, see the weapons and firearms defence page and the article on weapons charges in Ontario. For an immediate consultation on your Brampton case, call 647-547-6734.