Stephen Tynes's rifles common among Canadian gun owners

The rifles found in a home after a Dalhousie medical student was accused of threatening to kill others are relatively common, says one firearms group.

Stephen Gregory Tynes, 30, of Truro was charged after he said he wanted to kill 10 to 20 people and then himself, according to search warrant documents filed in a Halifax court.

Tynes made the comments during an appointment with his psychiatrist, who then alerted police. Tynes was arrested later that day, and police subsequentlyfound a collection of guns and ammunition during a search of a Halifax apartment.

Police seized 1,834 rounds of ammunition for rifles, a Russian SKS rifle, a Henry Golden Boy .22-calibre rifle, a banana clip for a rifle, a baggie with three spring clips and bore cleaner, two ammunition boxes, a firearms acquisition card and a gun club card.

Sheldon Clare, a spokesman for the National Firearms Association, said both rifles seizedare popular among gun owners in Canada.

"There's nothing exotic or fancy with any of these," he said.

The Russian SKS rifle has been available in Canada for many years, Clare said. Owners must take a course and be examined by instructor, in addition to holding a possession acquisition licence.

He said there are thousands of these rifles in homes across Canada.

"The SKS is a post-World War II surplus rifle, it's made very inexpensively and is very popular," Clare told CBC's Maritime Noon.

'Nothing illegal or even alarming'

The Henry Golden Boy rifle is also fairly common in Canada, he said.

"You could use them for anything. They're all made for punching holes in paper or for hunting," Clare said.

He added that gun owners often buy ammunition in bulk, for consistency of the product and to save money.

"There's nothing illegal or even alarming about a quantity as small as what this person had."

Tynes is charged with two counts of uttering threats to cause death or bodily harm and one count of engaging
in threatening conduct.

The court documents allege Tynes met with a psychiatrist on Aug. 20 and also told the doctor he would stab Dalhousie's associate dean of undergraduate medical education and her daughter, who was also his classmate. Tynes was facing expulsion from the medical school.

"I think what is a good thing is that the psychiatrist here was on the ball and they were able to deal with this individual appropriately," Clare said.

"The firearms ... are not any more dangerous than any other firearm and, quite frankly, it's an irrelevant consideration. "

None of the allegations has yet been proven in court.

Tynes is due in court on Sept. 15 to enter a plea.