Firearms & Weapons Charge Lawyer in Halifax
A weapons charge in Halifax can start with a roadside search, a domestic call, or a licensed firearm that police say was stored carelessly. The Criminal Code and the Firearms Act overlap. If you need a Halifax criminal defence lawyer for a firearms or weapons file, call 782-825-5084 or email freeconsult@criminallawyerhalifax.com.
A weapons charge in Halifax can start with a roadside search, a domestic call, or a licensed firearm that police say was stored carelessly. The Criminal Code and the Firearms Act overlap. If you need a Halifax criminal defence lawyer for a firearms or weapons file, call 782-825-5084 or email freeconsult@criminallawyerhalifax.com.
Laura McCarthy, JD, Schulich 2012, NSBS, Halifax.
This is not a U.S. Second Amendment page. Canada licenses firearms. Nova Scotia courts apply the Code. This page will not explain how to hide a gun, beat a serial-number check, or “get around” a prohibition.
The usual Code sections, in plain language
Careless storage, handling, or transportation (s.86). A licensed owner can still be charged if a firearm is stored or handled in a way that shows wanton or reckless disregard for safety. Trigger locks, cabinets, and ammunition storage are the usual facts. The Firearms Act and regulations set the storage rules; the Code charges the breach when it is criminal.
Possession of a weapon for a dangerous purpose (s.88). Carrying or possessing a weapon, an imitation, or a prohibited device for a purpose dangerous to the public peace, or for the purpose of committing an offence. Intent is the fight. A knife in a tackle box is not automatically s.88. A knife produced in a downtown argument may be.
Carrying a concealed weapon (s.90). A weapon carried concealed, unless you are authorized. “I just had it in my jacket” is often the entire Crown theory.
Unauthorized possession of a firearm (s.91). Possessing a firearm without the required licence or, where required, registration. This is the count that catches people who inherited a rifle, bought privately, or let a licence lapse.
Possession of a restricted or prohibited firearm in an unauthorized place, loaded or with readily accessible ammunition (s.95). A restricted or prohibited firearm, loaded or with ammunition nearby, in a place you are not authorized to possess it. Cars and apartments after a traffic stop are a common setting.
Possession contrary to a prohibition order (s.117.01). Possessing a firearm, ammunition, or a restricted weapon while you are already under a court order not to. These files are treated as a direct challenge to a court order. The defence is often identity, knowledge, or whether the object actually meets the definition — not a speech about unfairness.
People charged after a hunt, a range day, or a family transfer in rural Nova Scotia are in the same Code as someone stopped downtown with bear spray. The facts change. The disclosure still starts with the exhibit and the search.
A licence under the Firearms Act (PAL / RPAL) is authorization to possess. It is not a defence to careless storage, to s.88, or to using a firearm in an offence. If your licence status is part of the case, bring the paper to counsel. Do not rely on a memory of “I think it’s still valid.”
Knives, bear spray, and everyday objects
Not every weapons file is a gun.
A kitchen knife, a bat, a tool, or bear spray can be a weapon when it is used or possessed that way. Assault with a weapon is an assault count. s.88 is a weapons count. The same incident can be both. Bar fights, road rage, and street stops in Halifax and Dartmouth produce these charges as often as a search of a licensed cabinet in the county.
Bear spray is widely sold and widely charged when it is carried downtown. “I have it for dogs” is a purpose argument. It is not a slogan that ends the file.
Imitation firearms and air guns have their own definitions. Whether the object is a “firearm” in the Code is a live issue on some files. Counsel will check the current definition against the exhibit. This page will not catalogue devices.
Searches of cars and apartments; orders already in force
Weapons files are search files.
A traffic stop that becomes a vehicle search, a “safety search” of an apartment after a 911 call, or a warrant aimed at drugs that turns up a rifle — each path has a different Charter problem. If the same ITO describes a drug stash house, the weapons and CDSA counts will be tried as one investigation even if they sit on two informations.
If you are already on a prohibition, a bail condition, or a 117.04/117.05 weapons prohibition, possession of ammunition in a sock drawer can be enough for a new charge. Family members who keep a hunting rifle in a shared house need to know that your prohibition can make that house a problem. That is a living-arrangement issue for the bail plan, not something to improvise after an arrest.
Do not consent to a second search of a garage or a camp without advice. Do not ask a friend to “move the guns” after police have already attended. That can become obstruction or a new possession count.
Bail and weapons conditions
Weapons allegations change bail.
Some firearms counts are reverse-onus under s.515(6). Repeat violent offending with a weapon can be reverse-onus as well. Intimate-partner files with a weapon in the house overlap with domestic assault bail.
A release order will often require:
- surrender of every firearm, licence, and piece of ammunition you can access;
- a no-go to a residence where guns are stored;
- no-possession of weapons, including bear spray and knives beyond ordinary cutlery;
- a surety who understands that a hunting trip is not a loophole.
If you or a family member is in custody tonight, the bail hearing page is the process spoke. Call 782-825-5084. This number is not advertised as 24-hour staffing.
Mandatory minimums — check the current section
The mandatory-minimum landscape for Canadian firearms offences has changed more than once — including Bill C-5, which repealed a set of Code and CDSA minima, while other firearms minima (including some trafficking, discharge, and criminal-organization-related counts) were kept. Courts have also struck down particular minima as unconstitutional in particular cases.
Do not rely on a 2012, 2015, or 2022 chart you found on a forum. Counsel will read the section as it read on the date of the alleged offence, and as it reads now, including any constitutional rulings that apply in Nova Scotia. This draft will not paste a table of years in jail.
Statutory maxima remain high on indictable firearms counts. A repealed minimum is not a promise of a discharge or a fine.
How these files are fought
- Definition. Is the exhibit a firearm, a replica, a weapon, or a tool?
- Knowledge and possession. Who had control? Who knew it was there?
- Purpose (s.88). Why was it possessed that day?
- Authorization. Licence, registration, and place.
- Storage standards (s.86). What does the regulation actually require, and what did the officer photograph?
- Charter. The stop, the warrant, the search of the car or the apartment.
- The prohibition order. Was it in force? Were you served? Did the object fall inside it?
Related defence: assault, drug charges, bail, and the defence hub.
Service area
Files in Halifax, Dartmouth, Bedford, Sackville, Cole Harbour, and the rest of the HRM typically start at Halifax or Dartmouth Provincial Court. Serious indictable counts can move to the Nova Scotia Supreme Court. The same Code applies in Truro, Sydney, New Glasgow, Kentville, Bridgewater, Yarmouth, and Amherst.
What to do now
Do not handle, move, or clean a seized firearm. Do not talk to co-accused about “who the gun belongs to.” Bring licence paperwork to the consult. Call 782-825-5084 or email freeconsult@criminallawyerhalifax.com.
Call 782-825-5084
Laura McCarthy, JD, Schulich 2012, NSBS, Halifax. Email freeconsult@criminallawyerhalifax.com.
Frequently asked questions
Yes. A licence answers unauthorized possession. It does not answer careless storage, s.88, assault with a weapon, or possession in a place you are not authorized to possess a restricted firearm. Bring the licence. Do not assume it ends the file.
That is the street name for s.88 — possession of a weapon for a purpose dangerous to the public peace, or for an offence. Purpose is the element. The object can be a knife, bear spray, a bat, or something else the Crown says was a weapon that day.
Sometimes the onus is on you. Release plans almost always include surrender and no-possession conditions. If you are in custody, see bail and call 782-825-5084.
s.117.01 is a separate offence. Do not try to “turn the guns in tomorrow” after arrest without counsel directing a lawful surrender. Tell the lawyer about every order you are on, including bail conditions from another file.
It can, if it is used or possessed as a weapon. Everyday objects become weapons by use and purpose. That is why some of these files are also assault files.
Some firearms offences still carry mandatory minima; many that used to, no longer do. The only safe answer is that counsel will check the current section as charged and the date of the alleged offence. Do not plan your life around an old chart.
A consent search is still a search. You have the right to silence and the right to counsel. Call 782-825-5084 before you agree to a second look.
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Charged with a firearms or weapons offence in Halifax or elsewhere in Nova Scotia? Call 782-825-5084 or email freeconsult@criminallawyerhalifax.com.
Laura McCarthy, JD, Schulich 2012, NSBS, Halifax.