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.
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Shellie Addley Barrister and Solicitor.
Keli D. Mersereau Criminal Law Office
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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.
