Whether it was manufactured last month or 250 years ago, Supt. Don Spicer says every gun has its own unique story.
HRM’s Public Safety Officer, who helped organize last month’s Pixels for Pistols gun amnesty program in Halifax, said officers heard some pretty interesting tales as they went around collecting the hundreds of firearms turned over by the public in exchange for a new digital camera.
“In many cases, we found that the guns were handed down from generation to generation, and the current generation didn’t have any interest in keeping them,” Spicer said. “There were some that had some pretty important historical significance.”
Among the most interesting firearms was a revolver obtained by a Canadian soldier at the Battle of Dieppe during the Second World War.
“There were approximately 100 United States Rangers that landed on the beach at the same time, and they were cracking open these crates of revolvers and saying, ‘help yourselves, boys!’,” explained Const. Don Jenkins, who was actively involved with the amnesty program.
“This particular Canadian jumped off his tank and grabbed an armload of revolvers for everyone in his tank. He carried his for the remainder of the war.”
Jenkins said a couple of the guns collected date back to the 1850s and 1860s, and are already on their way to the army museum on Citadel Hill. Several other museums across Canada have also been phoning to see if they might snag a treasure or two.
“The people (who handed the guns in) simply wanted them to have a better home where people could appreciate them,” Jenkins said. “It’s the exploits of the Canadians at the time and how they acquired (the gun) that make what may be a commonplace firearm one of significance.”
