Jewellery store owner fights back ... in Canada

[Boberama]

OK, this is Canada for you. Two guys walk into a jeweler's and one points a gun at the jeweler's wife's head. Then they start smashing the display cases.

The guy goes into the back of the shop and opens his safe, where he has a 9mm stored according to the Canadian laws, inserts a 10 round magazine and starts shooting. One guy escapes, the other is paralyzed.

The gun was ( I think ) a Beretta M951 and I'm not sure how many shots were fired.

Then he is charged with careless use of a firearm and improper storage of a firearm. He DID store it properly!

Quote:
By Quintin Winks, Canwest News Service November 16, 2009


Dennis Galloway shows a vase that took a bullet while he was shooting at armed robbers who were trying to rob Dievert's Jewellery in 2008.

Dennis Galloway shows a vase that took a bullet while he was shooting at armed robbers who were trying to rob Dievert's Jewellery in 2008.
Photograph by: Quintin Winks, Canwest News Service

PORT ALBERNI — Little more than a year ago, Dennis Galloway shot an armed robber in his jewelry store in an incident that left one man in hospital with life-threatening injuries. It is just recently that the man has recovered sufficiently to speak with police and face his charges.

Galloway himself was not hurt nor was his wife Sharon who was also in the store. The RCMP recommended charges but they were dismissed by crown prosecutors. On Saturday, Galloway was presented with an award for bravery by the Canadian Association for Self Defense.

That's not sitting well with some.

Port Alberni resident Jacques Savard, who has expressed interest in the case, wants answers. He said Mounties haven't been forthcoming with information about the robbery and the aftermath of the shooting. He wants assurances that innocent bystanders won't be hit by stray bullets in future shootouts between shopkeepers and robbers.

Savard called Galloway's action vigilantism and he wants police to address "our public safety concerns."

RCMP Staff Sgt. Lee Omilusik said he couldn't comment on a case that's still before the courts, but emphasized that police in no way condone vigilante behaviour.

In the meantime, not a day passes when Galloway doesn't replay the shooting in his mind.

Shortly before dark on Oct. 22, 2008, Galloway was sitting in the back office of Dievert's Jewellers on Johnston Road.

Two men burst through the front door wearing gloves, sunglasses and were pulling on hoods. One took a gun from his hip, walked up to Galloway's wife Sharon, the only other person in the store, and pointed it in her face.

"He said 'I'm a robber, this is a gun and I'm going to rob you,'" she said.

Galloway said "something in me took over and I just knew what I had to do. I wasn't scared. There was no adrenaline."

Galloway keeps a registered and permitted 9 mm handgun in his store vault. He retrieved it and loaded it with a 10-round clip. By that time, the robber had begun smashing jewellery cases with the butt of his pistol.

"I stepped out and started shooting," Galloway said. "Both robbers turned and started running for the door. The first guy made it out. The second guy collapsed in the entrance. I guess I was aiming because I hit him, but I don't really remember."

Galloway emptied his clip. Police told him he hit the robber twice. They recommended charges of unsafe storage of a firearm and careless use of a firearm.

"It was really the community response to what I went through that it was decided not to be in the public interest to charge me," Galloway said.

In the year since the attempted robbery, Galloway has had people come into the store to shake his hand and tell him they support his actions. Groups have approached him offering financial assistance with legal fees. And he has appeared on television and the radio to explain what happened during the shooting, including a phone interview with Edmonton radio personality Roy Green.

"Roy is for the rights of Canadians to defend themselves in situations like this," Galloway said. "He doesn't believe we should roll up on the floor and just take whatever these criminals want to perpetrate against us."

That way of thinking is aligned with Galloway's own train of thought.

He said he'd like the current laws to be amended so that someone with adequate training, appropriate background checks and with a licensed and permitted weapon can defend himself against harm.

"I think I should have the same right as a police officer to defend himself against grievous bodily harm," Galloway said. "Why should I be any different?"

There are plenty of people who agree including Norman Lapierre, head of the Quebec-based Canadian Association for Self Defence, the organization behind Galloway's award for bravery.

Lapierre said he believes Galloway did the right thing.

"Mr. Galloway did not comply with the aggressors only to become another sad statistic," Lapierre said. "Mr. Galloway stood up and confronted the criminals and defended the life of his wife Sharon, as well as his own life. We at CASD feel that such a noble act should not go un-noticed and hence forgotten as some byline on page 43 of a newspaper right under an ad for winter tires."

Savard could not disagree more. He said the "promotion of vigilantism in Canada by rogue organizations like the Canadian Association for Self-Defense is in fact a promotion of violence that undermines true, Canadian values.

"This award gives new meaning to the term blood diamond. It's a slick propaganda campaign honouring Mr. Galloway's macho bravado while covering up his complete disregard for public safety. Parents beware which stores your children frequent. There's a new Wild West consciousness in town and stray bullets tend to be non-discriminatory."

Here's the local CHEK News take on the whole thing:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xaio3jCGoFk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uXNHgEO2RqI
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q9rYe8mVgSY

This is why I want to move to Washington from the Island. But then I learned you cant have an SBR in Washington. Now I want Oregon.

[Double Naught Spy]

So you are posting a 2 month old article on an incident that happened over a year ago?

The gun was ( I think ) a Beretta M951 and I'm not sure how many shots were fired.

Did you not read the article and view the videos you linked? 10 rounds.

Then he is charged with careless use of a firearm and improper storage of a firearm. He DID store it properly!

Did you not read the article you copied and pasted here? The RCMP recommended charges, but they were dropped. Sounds like due process to me. Are you complaining that due process worked?

Galloway himself was not hurt nor was his wife Sharon who was also in the store. The RCMP recommended charges but they were dismissed by crown prosecutors.

[45Gunner]

I think the point made here is that a guy defended his wife and his business and the anti-gun faction would rather prosecute him than award him a medal.

Canada has very tough gun laws. A couple of years ago, my wife and I were traveling in our RV on an extended vacation. We were crossing the Canadian border. Because we were in a large vehicle with Florida tags, we got pulled to the side for a complete search. Don't ya know that everyone from Florida going north is running drugs? They counted the number of cigars in my humidor. I was allowed 50 per person and I had 99...no tax. I had about 15 bottles of liquor and wine and I had to leave it behind or pay the tax, which I elected to do....$88. They told me no guns were allowed into Canada unless I had a permit and was going to a specific gun range.

I travel with two handguns and a shotgun. I'm not about to go anywhere in my RV unarmed. I refused to give them up, never declared them and thought they were hidden so they couldn't be found. I was right. After 1 1/2 hours of searching, they let us cross the border. Rest assured it will be my last RV trip to Canada. I could never live anywhere citizens are open sport to be robbed, raped, and what have you, because they have no means to defend themselves.

[540mope]

boberama...welcome to the site...thanks for posting the story. some of us have not heard anything about it.
do not let members that make petty gripes about yesterday's news deter you from posting anything of significance

[Doc Intrepid]

Boberama,

Welcome to the forum.

I'm not familiar with the acronym "SBR".

But Washington State's gun laws are pretty reasonable, and concealed carry permits issued in the state of Washington are respected under reciprocal agreements with numerous other states.

Depending on what "SBR" means, you may wish to conduct a more thorough review of Washington State gun laws. Here is one place to begin looking:

http://www.handgunlaw.us/

Respectfully,

Doc

[jborushko]

sbr -- short barrel rifle

which he is correct, RCW 9.41.190 blah blah blah no short barrel rifle blah blah blah

[Doc Intrepid]

I stand enlightened.

Thank you, jborushko.

[Bud Helms]

I see where this is going (or should).

Moving to L&CR.

[maestro pistolero]

That he was charged at all is a outrage. What exactly would constitute a responsible use a a firearm in Canada, if not this?

[Double Naught Spy]

Due process does not always take the shortest route. The critical point here is that due process worked, the charges were dropped. Look at all the people who are arrested and charged in SD shootings only to have the charges dropped later or after things are resolved in court.

[Robert J McElwain]

Boberama,

Thanks for posting this article. I go to Canada about once a year, and it always annoys me that I have to go unarmed.

I don't care if the story is a day old or a year old. It's timely.