(File photo/ paNOW Staff)

By Nigel Maxwell

Court proceedings

Sask. RCMP officer receives absolute discharge, after failing to renew license of personal gun

Oct 8, 2021 | 11:00 AM

A Saskatchewan RCMP officer, who neglected to renew the license for a personal gun he had owned for over 20 years, has received an absolute discharge.

Sgt. Rene Giroux, 60, was also ordered to pay a surcharge fine of $500 at his sentencing hearing last month.

The court appearance represented his first on the matter and he entered a guilty plea to a single charge of unauthorized possession of a restricted firearm.

The case itself dates back to January, 2021 when a management check of the Canadian Firearms Registry, showed Giroux’s personal firearms license was expired, which meant he could not legally posses the .22 caliber pistol he owned. Giroux willingly surrendered the pistol.

At the time of the incident, Giroux was working at the Waskesiu detachment and remained on active duty during the court process. An internal Code of Conduct review was initiated.

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According to the website pardonapplications.ca, an absolute discharge is usually warranted when an offender has pleaded guilty, but no findings of guilt are made.

Unlike a conditional discharge, the individual will not have any conditions to uphold, and there will be no record of arrest or conviction on their permanent record. An absolute discharge only remains on record for one year.

nigel.maxwell@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @nigelmaxwell