None of us expect police to show up at our front door, search warrant in hand, to seize all our guns, yet that’s exactly what happened to licensed gun owner and firearm safety course instructor Opinder Singh in May 2015.
He is immensely grateful he purchased Firearm Legal Defence (FLD) insurance coverage long before that terrible and stressful day.
“Firearm Legal Defence coverage is a no-brainer,” he says. “I can afford to lose anything except this insurance. It played such a crucial role in my life because without it, hiring effective legal representation is simply out of my reach.”
His FLD insurance policy saved him from suffering the fate of so many other gun owners in similar situations – financial and reputational ruin.
Opinder Singh teaches the Non-Restricted and Restricted Firearm Safety Courses and the C.O.R.E. course, the BC Hunter Education Training. He is also a bus driver for Translink, the company in charge of the transit system in the Greater Vancouver Regional District (GVRD).
His legal troubles began when a shop steward (Translink employees are unionized) asked Singh to sign an official statement of complaint against a fellow employee. Singh declined because, in his view, the requested statement would constitute perjury on his part.
Tensions mounted and Opinder eventually went to management in an attempt to end the workplace harassment over the issue. Management investigated the situation and backed Singh.
The shop steward and two other union members filed an RCMP complaint against Opinder, saying he has access to firearms and threatened them. As a long-time firearm safety course instructor, this should have been viewed with scepticism by the RCMP, but they chose to seize his guns instead of investigating the allegations.
Based on the uninvestigated complaint, RCMP constables obtained a search warrant under Section 117.04(1) of the Criminal Code. They executed the search warrant on Wednesday, May 27, 2015, and seized his firearms and his firearm licence.
The next day he reported what happened to Translink management at his Surrey, BC, workplace. They reiterated their support for him.
He also started his search for a lawyer that same day.
“The trouble is, once you talk to a lawyer and explain what happened and that firearms are involved, and the RCMP has already seized my guns, no lawyer would touch my case. By the end of the day, I knew I needed a really good criminal lawyer.”
He found Russ Chamberlain, a legend in British Columbia’s legal circles, and met with him on May 30th, a week before he would be married.
Chamberlain took on the case and asked for a $10,000 retainer. With the assistance of family and friends, Singh came up with the full retainer and Chamberlain went to work.
The following Monday, Singh called Zach Schwingenschloegl, FLD’s representative in Kelowna, to see what they could do to help him.
“As soon as Firearm Legal Defence took over the case, things went pretty smoothly,” he said. “My stress level dropped immediately.”
His lawyer pushed Crown Counsel to order investigators to speak to Opinder’s supervisor to get their side of the story, something RCMP investigators had not done.
“The constable who seized my firearms also wanted a 5-year firearm prohibition order against me, all without ever investigating the claims against me at all.”
The next call he received from his lawyer was to go pick up his firearm licence and his guns. With his supervisor’s statement now on record, Crown Counsel dropped all charges and ended the proceedings against Singh.
Opinder Singh’s case took just over two months, from the time his guns were seized until all charges were dropped. His legal bill of $15,000 was covered entirely by Firearm Legal Defence.
If you want the peace of mind only Firearm Legal Defence provides, visit FirearmLegalDefence.com, click the “Buy Now” button, and enter the discount code CSSA001 to receive $10 off the already low annual price of just $95.
What’s coming down the pipe? A Look into CSSA’s Crystal Ball