No guns allowedPublished Friday October 10th, 2008

American citizens arrested for failure to declare firearms
A2By Bryan Tait
Stumble Upondel.icio.usDiggFacebookPrintEmailSpeak UpTwo firearm incidents over the past two weeks have kept border officials at the Belleville port busy.

On two occasions, American citizens were arrested and charged for making false statements to border guards. Both times, they failed to claim firearms in their possession.

The first incident occurred on the afternoon of Sept. 30. An elderly Virginia man was arrested after failing to declare a firearm.

Joseph Jean Claude St. Ours, a 69-year-old retiree, was travelling with his wife. They'd planned to travel around the Maritimes for a couple of weeks.

When they were questioned at the border, he said he sometimes carried a gun with him when travelling. Canada Border Services Agency officials searched the couple's camper and found a .357 Smith & Wesson revolver in a closet.

Neither St. Ours nor his wife had any criminal history in Canada or the U.S.

The second incident occurred on Monday when a 57-year-old Florida man intended to meet someone at the border to sell a boat.

William Robert Kelly Jr. said he had no intention of crossing the border, but was informed he was already in Canada and had to submit to inspection. Apparently, he had misunderstood what border officials meant when they asked him if he had any weapons. He corrected himself at the first opportunity and said he had a 40 mm Smith & Wesson on the seat and a 12-gauge shotgun in his truck. The revolver wasn't loaded, but officers found a fully loaded clip with hollow-point rounds.

Both men pleaded guilty in Woodstock court this week, and were fined $1,500 each, which was due immediately.

Judge R. Leslie Jackson said incidents like this were all too common.

"This isn't the first time, and it likely won't be the last," Jackson said.
http://bugleobserver.canadaeast.com/news/article/443257