Cardston gun shop owner pleads guilty to four firearms related charges

At the time, more than 1,000,000 rounds of ammunition, and nearly 1100 firearms were seized.

According to a 12-page Agreed Statement of Facts read out in court by Crown Prosecutor Bruce Ainscough, in the fall of 2016, Firearms Officer Dawn Iwassa with the Office of the Chief Firearms Officer received information that employees of K & D Implements may have been selling ammunition without ensuring that the purchaser had a valid authorization to acquire and possess firearms and/or ammunition or a PAL (Possession and Acquisition License).

Once again in early 2017, Sgt. Richard Kurina with the National Weapons Enforcement Support Team (NWEST) also received information from four sources indicating that the store owner, Dean Dan Sommerfeldt was selling firearms to customers without ensuring the purchasers had a valid PAL.

In Feb. 2017, a joint investigation between members of ALERT and NWEST began, which included two undercover officers patronizing the store on 12 separate occasions. During that time, the officers observed patrons purchasing boxes of ammunition and firearms.

While the store displayed a sign that indicated a PAL must be presented, many times, no possession and acquisition licences were asked for, or presented. The purchases were made with cash, and no receipt was given.

On one occasion, undercover officers watched as two men around the ages of 30 and 60 approached the accused and asked if a PAL was needed to make an ammunition purchase. The accused replied that he needed to see one but didn’t care whose it was. The ammunition was purchased, and no receipt was issued.

During several subsequent visits to the store, court heard the undercover officers saw both restricted and unrestricted weapons that were not properly secured, did not have trigger locks engaged, and some which could be easily accessed by members of the public.

Both officers also made their own purchases of ammunition and firearms, and were either not asked to show their PAL, or other identification, or were told that they could simply use another PAL from someone else. No receipts were ever issued for any of the purchases.

On May 11, 2017, one of the undercover officers bought a Ruger 10/22 rifle with a red dot sight- and was not asked to produce a PAL. The officer put the weapon in his vehicle, came back to the store and looked at the handgun case.

The elder Sommerfeldt discussed buying a 9mm Glock handgun with three magazines or a Smith & Wesson 9mm with four magazines. It was then that the undercover officer asked if he could use his friend’s PAL to purchase it. He was told that the friend needed to be there and said, “I don’t break the rules with restricted firearms; well, I don’t break them with non-restricted either, just bend them a little.” The officer then left.

After the Agreed Statement of Facts was read out, Sommerfeldt’s Ontario lawyer Edward L. Burlew asked that a Pre-Sentence Report (PSR) be completed and presented a thick binder with more than 200-character references to the judge.

It’s expected that the PSR will take about 10 weeks to completed. Dean Sommerfeldt will be back in court Dec. 9 at 10 a.m. for sentencing.

While Todd’s charges are expected to be withdrawn, he is now prohibited from owning and possessing any firearms for a period of 4 years.

by Lara Fominoff

Cardston gun shop owner pleads guilty to four firearms related charges

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