QUICK TAKEAWAY
Robbery to Steal a Firearm: If you are convicted of robbery and your intention was to steal a firearm, s.98.1 of the Criminal Code states that you will face a maximum sentence of life imprisonment upon conviction. The same maximum sentence is a possibility for those convicted of breaking and entering to steal a firearm, even if there is no violence threatened against a person.
Table of Contents:
What is Robbery to Steal a Firearm?
Section 98.1 of the Criminal Code makes it a crime to commit a robberyUsing force or intimidation to take property from another person with the intention of stealing a firearmBarrelled weapon from which a projectile can be discharged.
The Code defines a robbery as:
- theft where violence or threats of violence are made to a person or property;
- wounding, beating or using personal violence against a person during a theft;
- assaulting any person with intent to steal from them; or
- stealing from any person while armed with an offensive weapon or imitation thereof.
What is Breaking and Entering to Steal a Firearm?
A closely related offence is found in s.98 (1) of the Code. It states that it is a crime to break and enter into a place with the intention to steal a firearm. It is also a crime to break out of a place after stealing a firearm. The Code defines a "place" as any building or structure, motor vehicle, vessel, aircraft, railway vehicle, container or trailer.
The Code also defines what it means to enter a place. To enter means that any part of your body or any part of an instrument you were holding goes inside a place. It adds that you have "broken and entered" if you:
- obtained entrance by a threat or an artifice or by collusion with a person within, or
- entered without lawful justification or excuse by a permanent or temporary opening.
What the Crown Must Prove
With the charge of robbery to steal a firearm, the prosecution must demonstrate that you used violence or threats of violence to obtain a weapon, and that violence was for the purpose of carrying out the stealing. With the charge of breaking and entering to steal a firearm, they must show that you knew that you had illegally entered someone’s premises with the intention of seizing a weapon.
Penalties
The offences of robbery to steal a firearm and breaking and entering to steal a firearm are both treated as indictable offenceIndictable offences are more-serious criminal offencess. Each carry a maximum punishment of life in prison.
OttawaLawyersNear Me
Reesink Law
Danielson Kabesh Law Professional Corporation
Kimberley A. Pegg Barristers
Harbic Law
Grenier Law
Mcelroy Law
Glossary of Legal Terms
Firearm
Barrelled weapon from which a projectile can be discharged and that is capable of causing bodily injury or death to a person.
Indictable offence
Indictable offences are the most serious offences under the Criminal Code and they come with more serious punishments, up to a maximum penalty of life in prison.
Robbery
When force or intimidation is used or threatened to take property from another person.
