ATRS Sues RCMP, Alberta CFO Staff for $70 Million in Gun-Confiscation Damages (Correction)

(Update: Nov. 30: Adds ATRS comment on GoFundMe campaign.
Correction 2, Nov. 29: Corrects claim value in headline and second paragraph.)

TheGunBlog.ca — Alberta Tactical Rifle Supply sued the Canadian government and four RCMP and Alberta CFO staff in relation to the Liberal Party’s May 1 attacks against federally licensed firearm businesses and users.

The gun maker and its owner, Richard Timmins, are seeking more than $70 million in compensation, according to the Nov. 20 filing to Federal Court in Toronto, under court number T-1415-20.

Edward Burlew, the lawyer for the Calgary-based manufacturer, told TheGunBlog.ca today that the lawsuit is the first corporate challenge of its kind.

Criminalize and Confiscate

The case claims the criminalizations-confiscations unleashed on May 1 by the Liberals with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police led officials to breach the rights of Timmins.

He was threatened with jail unless he stopped making and selling his flagship products, the Modern series of semi-automatic rifles.

Intimidate and Incarcerate

The case is the newest example of how the Liberals, the RCMP and their allies are intimidating individuals, destroying businesses and killing jobs under their mass crackdown advertised as “public safety.”

Black Creek Labs, another independent rifle maker, was also forced to stop manufacturing its main rifle, the BCL102.

The Liberal-RCMP regulatory attacks specifically target Canada’s 4,500 licensed gun businesses, plus the country’s 2.2 million licensed hunters, sport shooters and firearm collectors. Unlicensed gun importers, factories, and owners are exempt.

Six earlier Federal Court cases said the unprecedented measures are unconstitutional, illegal and abusive.

GoFundMe

Update Nov. 28: Timmins created a GoFundMe.com page for donations on May 27.

Update Nov. 30: ATRS told TheGunBlog.ca on Nov. 30 it is aware the campaign needs to be updated.

Five Individual Defendants

Unlike the six other cases that named the government and RCMP as respondents for their May 1 attacks, ATRS on Page 1 and 2 of its filing named five individual defendants:

• Queen Elizabeth II, to be represented by the attorney general
• Two employees of the RCMP involved in firearm confiscations. At least one of them has retired and now works as an RCMP confiscation consultant.
• The Alberta Chief Firearms Officer (CFO)
• An employee of the Alberta CFO office

Damage Claims Over $70 Million

The filing lists the value of damage claims on Page 3, including:

• $25 million for corporate goodwill and inventory
• $20 million in “damages for misfeasance of a public officer”
• $20 million in “exemplary damages”
• $5 million in “aggravated damages”
• $0.5 million for breaching Timmins’s rights under Canada’s Charter of Rights and Freedoms
• $60,000 for Timmins’s “loss of value, ownership and use” of his firearms from the confiscations

Burlew, who also represents John Hipwell, the founder of Wolverine Supplies Ltd., e-mailed the following to TheGunBlog.ca:

Alberta Tactical Rifle Supply Filing to Federal Court

Download the PDF (43 pages, 6 MB)

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Related

• For Members: Murray Smith, RCMP FRT Ex-Chief, Helps Liberals and RCMP Suppress Gun Owners
• For Members: Federal Court Cases Split on Seeking Injunction to Stop Liberal Attacks
• RCMP Publishes Expanded List of Guns Ordered for Confiscation

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Update Nov. 28: Adds GoFundMe link.

Correction 1, Nov. 28

• Corrects value of Timmins’s claims for breach of Charter rights, adds claim for loss of firearms.