45 firearms stolen from RCMP since 2014, including grenade launcher

A RCMP officer leaves the court at the National Bank Open, in Toronto, Monday, Aug. 12, 2024. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chris Young)

At least 45 firearms have been stolen from the Royal Canadian Mounted Police since 2014, including 33 handguns, seven rifles, four shotguns and a grenade launcher.

The data, which was obtained through an access to information request, shows that nearly half of these firearms were reported stolen from the RCMP in 2016, when the grenade launcher plus 18 handguns, two shotguns and a rifle were taken. Four Mountie handguns were also reported stolen last year in 2024.

“If the RCMP has truly lost these weapons, the matter should be fully investigated and the public should be worried,” former RCMP major crime investigator Bruce Pitt-Payne told CTVNews.ca. “I don’t know what the situation is or why so many are unaccounted for; however, the RCMP must be absolutely forthright about this with the public if they want to retain the trust of Canadians.”

CTVNews.ca previously reported that 205 RCMP firearms were declared lost between 2020 and 2024, including five submachine guns, and just over half were eventually recovered. That data did not include stolen police weapons.

The latest figures span the past decade and reveal that a total 394 RCMP firearms were reported lost (349) or stolen (45) since 2014. Less than two-thirds of these weapons have been recovered, meaning that 137 police guns are still unaccounted for, including two missing RCMP machine guns.

Pitt-Payne spent 26 years with the RCMP and now offers consulting and training on investigative techniques.

“The RCMP should not be losing or misplacing guns period. All should be accounted for and able to be located immediately,” he said. “If not, an immediate investigation should be launched. Should an investigation find a person to be responsible for a firearm, that person should be investigated under the criminal code and RCMP Act.”

The RCMP is Canada’s federal police force and employs more than 19,000 police officers. The RCMP did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

In a previous statement to CTVNews.ca, the RCMP said that all stolen, missing or lost police firearms must be reported to appropriate authorities to be recorded and for any necessary investigations.

Rod Giltaca is the CEO and executive director of the Canadian Coalition for Firearm Rights.

“I think the evidence indicates that firearms belonging to police are stolen with some frequency,” Giltaca told CTVNews.ca. “It certainly doesn’t engender confidence in those who we are told are held to a higher standard.”

In a 2019 case, a Saskatchewan RCMP officer was charged with unsafe storage of a restricted firearm after a weapon and ammunition were stolen from their unmarked parked police vehicle. An RCMP grenade launcher also briefly went missing in B.C. in 2017 after reportedly falling off the back of a police vehicle.

Grenade launchers are typically used by police to fire less-lethal rounds like tear gas canisters. Nearly three-quarters of all stolen RCMP weapons were handguns.

“Personally, I don’t have a concern regarding the grenade launcher. It’s unlikely police forces have explosive ordinance for these devices,” Giltaca said. “The handguns are a particular problem because they are favored by people who are more likely to use them in a violent offense as they’re easily concealed.”

Far more civilian firearms are stolen each year in Canada. In 2022 alone, there were 2,086 theft incidents where at least one firearm was stolen, down from 2,196 in 2021, according to Statistics Canada. In 2022, stolen firearms were used in at least eight homicides.

The new data does not specify how many stolen RCMP weapons were recovered, or how many incidents resulted in criminal charges. The RCMP provided data from Jan. 1, 2014 to Dec. 4, 2024.

“Based on some of the numbers I’ve seen, I could speculate that there could be some internal trafficking going on,” Giltaca said. “If an RCMP member is found guilty of trafficking firearms, which has happened, the punishment should be even more severe than if it were a civilian. This is because a higher level of trust and confidence is expected, and betrayal of that trust should be taken in consideration as well as the charge itself.”