Grieving Nanaimo family calls on province to restrict firearms use in regional districts

The backwoods between Nanaimo and Ladysmith is a recreational haven for dirt bikers. It’s also where Simon Tozer was shot and killed on Feb. 21. He was struck by an errant bullet fired by someone doing target practice into trees, with no backstop.

The 52-year-old Nanaimo man was an avid outdoorsman. He left behind a wife, two adult children and many other friends and family, including his grieving sister, Sarah Bonar.

“The only people who can appreciate the depth of the horror and pain are other people who have experienced similar trauma of an untimely death caused by somebody’s negligence,” Bonar said Wednesday.

At the time he was killed, Tozer was dirt biking with his son and nephew. The area is regional district land — near the border between the Cowichan Valley and Nanaimo regional districts. Firearms use is allowed there, and Bonar says it has become common.

“More people are recreating in the forest, and there’s no regulations to stop firearms being discharged in regional districts,” she said.

Bonar wants to see changes to the law, limiting where people can use firearms.

“Where this has become a problem before — like the Fraser Valley Regional District — they’ve been able to work with the province to use the the Wildlife Act to create bylaw restrictions where firearms can be discharged, certain distances from roads or trails or relational areas,” she said.

B.C. Public Safety Minister Mike Farnworth issued a statement Wednesday calling Tozer’s death a deeply saddening situation. His ministry noted when a safety concern is identified, appropriate tools like firearms restrictions can be put in place.

Eight months after her brother’s death, Bonar hopes firearms restrictions come into place in regional districts across Vancouver Island soon.

“Nothing can bring my brother back, but if we can make things safer for someone else — people who work in the forest, people who recreate in the forest, live nearby in a regional district — (we should),” she said.

No charges have been laid in the case. The family has been told the bullet was never found, so no evidence could link the senseless death to whoever pulled the trigger.

“For people who are just shooting out into the forest — negligently without any thought that people could be hit by their bullet — (that) needs to stop,” she said from the gravel pit near where her brother was killed.

"People need to be aware that people can be killed."