Pubdate: Tue, 06 Dec 2005 Source: Vancouver Sun (CN BC) Copyright: 2005 The Vancouver Sun Contact: http://www.canada.com/vancouver/vancouversun/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/477 Author: Maurice Bridge, Vancouver Sun POLICE SAY 'GANGSTER WANNABES' BEHIND RISE IN GUN CRIMES Seizures of Guns in Vancouver This Year Are 43 Per Cent Higher Than the Entire Year of 02 Vancouver police are troubled by the number of guns they're seeing lately, and the kind of people who are carrying them. Figures released Monday show gun seizures so far this year are up 43 per cent over the entire year of 2002. Increasingly, it's not just hardened criminals who are carrying handguns, but young men who believe their possession of the weapons somehow enhances them. "We're seeing a greater incidence of handguns being used in relation to incidents," Vancouver police spokesman Const. Howard Chow said Monday "We're seeing more drive-by shootings, we're seeing more assaults where a handgun is pulled out, altercations that happen in the downtown core where handguns are seen or seized or pulled out. "We're seeing more individuals that are getting pulled over and when we search their vehicles, we find more handguns in their vehicles." Chow's comments follow a weekend shooting outside a downtown nightclub that killed 23-year-old Lee Matasi, who had returned to Vancouver after graduating in June from a three-year painting course at the Ottawa School of Art. A 28-year-old man who was not known to police has been charged with second-degree murder. Chow said gangs, drugs and guns are a standard combination, given the fears of gangsters and dealers that they may be attacked, but he sees the new "gangster wannabes" as a bad indicator. "What's even more alarming is that sometimes we're seeing some individuals with very minimal criminal records that are carrying these guns around," Chow said. "What's of concern is that it could be an 'in' trend . . . that people are carrying these firearms and coming into the downtown core." Many nightclubs now use metal detectors, body frisks and identification checks to try to keep weapons out. Special police teams made up of emergency-response and gang-squad members check the nighttime streets and bars for known gang members or anyone they think might have a gun. At this point, police are not certain where the guns are primarily coming from, although smuggling from the U.S. plays a large part in putting guns on the street. "They're bringing guns up and they're getting a good dollar for them," said Chow. He said a high-quality new gun can cost $2,000 to $3,000, but cheaper, older ones can be had for $500 to $700. Guns were on the street in a big way this weekend. In the West End, two women had their purses taken at gunpoint early Saturday in events which may be related to each other. At 2:50 a.m., a woman walking home in the 1800-block of Haro Street was accosted from behind by a man who stuck a gun in her back and demanded her purse, which she handed over. The man then ran away. The suspect is described as an East Indian male about 25 years old and 175 centimetres (5-feet-9) tall, wearing a white hooded sweatshirt and a red-and-white puffy jacket. He had short, black, spiky hair. At 6:50 a.m. in the 1000-block of Davie Street, a man approached a woman from the front, pointed a gun at her and took her purse. He ran from the scene. The suspect is described as a 190-centimetre (6-foot-3) white male about 86 kilograms (190 pounds) with black wavy hair, dark skin tone, 30 to 35 years old, and wearing dark clothing. Shortly before the first robbery, seven blocks farther east on Haro, police responded to a shots-fired call and found a 22nd-floor window broken, apparently by a bullet fired from the street. The couple living in the suite were awakened by a loud noise in their living room and found broken glass. Police later located what they believe is a bullet fragment lodged in the aluminum window frame. Also on the weekend, police executing a search warrant on an apartment in the 200-block of East 12th Avenue found a .45-calibre handgun and 64 grams of what is believed to be crack cocaine. An unnamed 25-year-old man is facing a number of charges. Chow's figures on guns in Vancouver are incomplete, but police say there are enough numbers to show the trend. With one month still to go, Vancouver police investigators have amassed 461 firearms exhibits this year, meaning guns, cartridge casings or anything else associated with shootings. They have investigated 68 shooting incidents and seized 215 guns Three years ago, those figures were 381 exhibits, with 59 shooting incidents and 150 firearms seized. Nor is Vancouver the only part of the Lower Mainland where guns are causing concern. Over the weekend, Delta police seized three handguns and arrested one young man. In New Westminster, a 38-year-old man was near death Monday as the result of a targeted shooting Sunday morning. In Burnaby, a 45-year-old man was shot on the doorstep of his Dundas Street home, and a 16-year-old showed up at an emergency ward shortly afterward with a gunshot wound. Police said the two shootings were related. - --- MAP posted-by: Richard Lake