Stephen Tynes passed gun club member requirements, president says

The president of the Scotia Gun Club says Stephen Tynes passed all the checks necessary to join the gun range.

The Dalhousie medical student is charged with uttering death threats and engaging in threatening conduct.

He's currently out on bail, but with an order not to come within 25 kilometres of Dalhousie's Carleton campus in downtown Halifax.

The non-profit gun club is located in Lantz, N.S. and is attached to Hnatiuk's Hunting and Fishing Ltd.

Club president Jim Hnatiuk can't recall if he ever met Stephen Tynes.

"We have 500 members here. So to remember actually meeting him, I can't say I remember."

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Court documents allege Tynes planned to attack an administrator and a student at Dalhousie Medical school. Those documents also allege he spoke of killing 10 to 20 more people with guns.

Police executed a search warrant at Tynes's home and and seized two long guns and more than 1,800 bullets.

Hnatiuk says when vetting new members, the club relies on police checks associated with a Possession and Acquisition License, known as a PAL.

"They come in, we ask for their valid PAL, they fill out a membership form, we ask for character references," he said.

Hnatiuk says law enforcement have been in touch about Tynes, but he won't share details.

He says it's common practice in Nova Scotia, where all restricted gun owners have to be gun club members.Tynes's long guns are not restricted so a gun club membership wasoptional.

"From time to time, law enforcement or the CFO would be contacting us to inquire about members. We don't get very many of those calls. So I'm not alarmed or anything else like that."

Hnatiuk says he wants to maintain a safe gun range for all club members.

He says he's standing by for further instructions from police.