A man travelling with a loaded semi-automatic rifle and more than 200 rounds of ammunition was arrested during a traffic stop in Saanich last Saturday.
Insp. Damian Kowalewich of Saanich police said officers saw a bullet shell casing on the dashboard of a vehicle during a traffic stop on Irma Street off Burnside Road East on March 2 and arrested a passenger after he exhibited “suspicious behaviour.”
Police searched the vehicle and found a backpack containing a loaded GSG-15 .22 LR rifle, a loaded .22 magazine, 200-plus rounds of loose ammunition, and two pairs of brass knuckles.
A 30-year-old Victoria man has been charged with eight firearms and other weapons-related offences, including possessing a prohibited weapon and transporting a firearm in a manner contrary to regulation.
The driver of the vehicle was not arrested.
Kowalewich said there is “no practical need” for the weapons to be in Saanich.
“We are glad to have removed them from the public space,” he said in a statement.
