Man Faces Years In Canadian Jail For Little Known Gun Law

(KIRO-TV) Canadians will welcome you and your money when the winter Olympics begin in February. But trying to take something else across the border could land you in jail.

Gerald Burke of Tacoma knows that first hand, and is facing an uncertain future because of it.
“The charge that the Crown is after is that I do three years in prison,” he told KIRO 7 Investigative Reporter Amy Clancy recently.

Burke says it was a simple mistake, but the Canadian government calls what Burke allegedly did a serious criminal offense.

Burke remembers the day in February when he was arrested while crossing into British Columbia at the Peace Arch: “Mr. Burke, put your hands behind your back. You are under arrest for smuggling a gun into Canada.”

Burke's loaded semi-automatic 9-millimeter handgun was discovered by Canada Border Services Agency officers in the center console of his SUV. Burke is licensed to carry a concealed weapon in the states, but Canadian laws dictate all firearms must be declared at the border. Handguns are strictly prohibited.

Clancy asked Burke, “did you know that it was in your vehicle at the time?”
Burke: “I did not.” Clancy: “Did you just forget?”
Burke: “I just forgot.”

The CBSA declined Clancy’s request for an interview, but the agency's investigation reveals that Burke seemed nervous at the border crossing and had a hard time answering questions.

Once the weapon was found, Burke was handcuffed and put in a cell. He spent eight days in jail before being allowed bail.

His wife of 26 years, Kelli Burke, says she couldn't even speak with him for five days.

“The last thing we heard when we were up there was the prosecutor saying she wouldn’t be happy without a year in prison for him.”

Burke is now charged with five criminal counts, including gun smuggling, lying to border guards, and possessing 85 rounds of ammunition 'for a purpose dangerous to the public peace or for the purpose of committing an offence."

Peter Ritchie, Burke’s Vancouver-based attorney, tells Clancy “if you have a gun in this country, it is considered to be a very serious matter.”

Ritchie believes that most Americans, including gun owners, have no idea how different U.S. and Canadian gun laws are.

“If you come to Canada,” Ritchie said outside a courthouse in Surrey, B.C., “it’s a whole different ballgame here, and you face one year minimum in jail. Even though you may be the sweetest citizen that walked the earth, that’s what you’re looking at here.”

Burke has no criminal history, is a long-time church missionary, and a married father of three. After he was arrested, dozens of Burke's friends and family members wrote to the BC court, asking for leniency. But Canadian gun laws are very strictly enforced.

In 2008, 191 firearms were seized from people crossing into B.C. and the Yukon. This past July, a Bremerton-based Navy sailor was sentenced to a year in jail after pleading guilty to gun smuggling. His BC lawyer, Kelly Merrigan, tells Clancy that he represents about three Americans per year, arrested for carrying handguns into Canada.

Blaine hardware store owner Jerry Wolten used to rent storage space where traveling American gun owners could lock up their weapons. He claims he’d have up to 30 guns stored at a time. Now, according to Wolten, U.S. regulations make it too difficult and too expensive. But he believes the need is still there, telling Clancy “how do you stress it enough to avoid all this? It has to be, just don’t bring it. But there’s not enough education.”

Burke's attorney, Peter Ritchie, agrees, saying “nobody’s going to warn you in advance. I don’t think there are billboards on the highway saying, hey! Don’t forget you’ve got your gun in your car, or you’re looking at a year in jail in this country.”

While Burke awaits his trial date next fall, he's warning others---especially before the Winter Olympics—“if for no other reason than to prevent one fellow American from going through the same thing that I have gone through. That would be reason enough to contact you” he told Clancy.

When Clancy and her photographer, Brian Doerflinger, crossed the border into Canada to work on this story, they looked for any signs warning Americans not to bring weapons. There are signs that tell you to keep right, watch for pedestrians and bicycles, and to “ThinkMetric.” But the only one warning against handguns is right under the Canadian border guard’s window, much too late to turn around.