B.C.’s Court of Appeal has upheld a firearms officer’s rejection of a gun permit application from a Hells Angel’s "full patch" member.
Gaston Methot had a firearms licence issued on June 26, 2012 with a expiration date of April 22, 2018, said a unanimous Aug. 22 decision from the court.
In March 2018, Methot applied to renew his licence. However, a firearms officer who had started a review of Methot’s licence had received information that Methot was a "full patch” member of the Hells Angels Motorcycle Club in the Fraser Valley.
The firearms officer refused Methot’s application on July 31, 2018.
Methot took the firearms officer’s decision to a provincial court judge; when he was unsuccessful there, he moved to B.C. Supreme Court before Justice Francesca Marzari.
The justice allowed the appeal and returned the matter to the provincial court for a second examination.
However, the Attorney General of Canada appealed that decision to the B.C. Court of Appeal.
Writing for the unanimous court, Justice Mary Saunders said the firearms officer made his determination to refuse Methot’s application based on multiple photographs and articles available from an open source internet check relating to Methot’s association with the Hells Angels, information from the RCMP that Methot was a full patch member of the West Point Chapter and an RCMP report outlining the history of the club and Methot’s involvement with it.
The RCMP officer who wrote the report had not interviewed Methot nor sought to inspect his firearms storage.
“There was no evidence Mr. Methot had contravened his licence,” the appeal court ruling said.
However, the licence was refused.
In refusing Methot a licence, the officer wrote: “As you are a full patch member of the [club’s] West Point Chapter, I find that you represent the Hells Angels and are bound by rules that allow for violence and criminal acts, and that the police are your adversary. You made this decision to be involved with an organization that has a reputation for violence and criminal acts.”
The provincial court agreed, saying the firearm’s officer’s decision was reasonable.
“The applicant is a member of the Hell's Angels Motorcycle Club, which is an organization that allows for violence and criminality, that restricts its member’s cooperation with police, and regards police as adversaries,” the judge said. “Such decisions have been supported across the country. Public safety is paramount and the legislation gives a broad discretion.”
Saunders said the provincial court judge was correct in upholding the firearms officer’s rejection of Methot’s application.
“I would allow the appeal and reinstate the decision of the firearms officer,” Saunders said.
