VANCOUVER -- Police in B.C.'s capital city arrested a man at gunpoint Saturday after receiving a call about a man with a weapon downtown.
Victoria police officers responded to the scene and encountered a man with a replica handgun tucked into the waistband of his pants, according to a tweet from Victoria Police Department Chief Const. Del Manak.
Manak posted a picture of the fake firearm and asked "does this replica handgun look real to you?"
The weapon in the image does not have the orange tip often used to denote a fake firearm, nor does it have any other obviously visible signs that it isn't real.
"Great composure from officers," Manak wrote in the tweet, adding, "people need to know better."
Manak did not say whether police would be recommending charges against the arrested man.
In the Criminal Code, replica weapons are treated the same as real weapons in the context of "possession of a weapon for a dangerous purpose."
Such a charge can come with a prison sentence of up to 10 years, though the Criminal Code also provides for lesser sentences and summary convictions.
