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lenaitch said:This is a big problem for the road warriors. The Criminal Code is a really big book full of really important stuff. Add to that the Controlled Drug and Substances Act and other federal statutes plus a plethora of provincial statutes and it's an awful lot to be an 'expert' on. Layer on to that the evolving appellate court rulings that impact their enforcement. Obviously, the core stuff needs to be know by heart. I would imagine most cops know the general law on what defines a restricted or prohibited weapons, but regulations often get into the weeds of particular weapons by name and model. Up-to-date mobile data helps but only to a point, and often the up-to-date part is the challenge.
I'm not saying it isn't a issue for them, if I had my way Parliament would be going though every law on the books and ditching a lot of obsolete ones that aren't necessary, as well as updating them to make more sense. Personally I am a huge fan of rewriting the criminal code to be much more simplified in layman's terms, reduce the need for lawyers and help citizens follow the laws easier when they can understand what they mean.
Its just interesting how if I accidentally break the law, go to court saying I didn't know it was against the law, it isn't a defence. Yet police officers whose job is to enforce the law, ignorance of it is a defence?
In my case I was target shooting on Crown land with a 90 year old bolt action rifle. I had it trigger locked for transport (above and beyond the legal requirements) and the cop was arguing with me stating things like the action needs to be open for transport as well, and you can't be doing that here and can only target shoot at approved ranges (which is not a legal requirement).
I don't have a issue with cops not being 100% up to date on the law, there is too much there for one person to know at the moment. I do have a massive issue with when they take their ignorance and pretend it is the law. At that point it is essentially fraud, they are misrepresenting the law to the citizen and trying to force them to comply with their warped version of reality, with the threat of force behind their actions. Refuse to comply they might arrest you even though you are 100% in the right and all that shall happen to them is don't do that again.
