If you are charged with a weapons related offence do not plead guilty before you consult with one of our lawyers. Kostman & Pyzer, Barristers, have successfully defended numerous cases involving weapons, including, carrying a concealed weapon, possession of a weapon for a dangerous purpose, possession of a prohibited or restricted weapon and assault with a weapon. Our firm has extensive experience in this area of law. Kostman & Pyzer, Barristers, will fight for your right to make full answer and defence by raising every possible and realistic defence at your disposal. There may be a defence available to you, technical or otherwise, that is not obvious to you. Furthermore the allegations and the evidence may be challenged under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms and this can result in a successful conclusion to your case. Trust a skilled practitioner. Don’t make a decision with such significant repercussions to your life without contacting our office. At Kostman & Pyzer, Barristers, we fight for your rights and we fight to win!
Almost any object can be converted into a weapon depending on the intention of the person who carries it and the context of its possession. A baseball bat that is on the floor in the back seat of a car may be one thing when the car is parked near a baseball diamond on a sunny day, and something entirely different when the car is parked at the scene of an anticipated confrontation between hostile parties. A machete or ceremonial dagger may make for a beautiful wall decoration but it assumes a different quality when it is carried in a concealed manner into a tavern. The Supreme Court of Canada sustained the conviction of a young person charged with “assault with a weapon” in circumstances where he stabbed at his parent with a pen when they attempted to get him out of bed for school.
You’ve probably heard the legal principle, “Ignorance of the law is no excuse”. In the realm of “prohibited weapons” this principle is very much alive. Many individuals do not realize that the possession of certain objects is illegal. Knives that open by centrifugal force (switchblades), tasers, brass knuckles, and pepper spray, and martial arts nunchucks sticks are all illegal “prohibited weapons”. Possession of any of these items is a criminal offence.
In many cases, the possession of an object that is intrinsically a “weapon” or one that can be converted into a weapon is innocent. At Kostman and Pyzer, Barristers, we know how to best advance the “innocent” quality of a person’s possession of a weapon. Sometimes, our defence is that a client converted an object into a weapon in self-defence, or that a client’s possession of a weapon was for defensive purposes and not for a dangerous purpose.
A criminal record with an entry for a weapons offence can cause very serious prejudice to an individual, whether the individual is looking for a job or merely has some otherwise insignificant contact with the police. At Kostman and Pyzer, Barristers, we have successfully defended many “weapons” charges in a wide variety of circumstances. At Kostman and Pyzer, Barristers, we will raise every defence available, and, if necessary, challenge the admissibility of the evidence as a breach of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. We can make a difference.
