A small arsenal of guns found by police in the home of a prominent member of the University of Toronto’s gun club has some demanding the closure of the Hart House shooting range, in operation since 1919.
Michael Brassard, 47, is a recently graduated mature student at the U of T and was a range officer and safety instructor with the Hart House Revolver Club and Rifle Club. He was arrested on October 8 for causing a disturbance on a subway platform.
According to Toronto police, Brassard had a loaded .45 calibre handgun concealed in his belongings. A search of his home led to 74 charges being laid against Brassard in connection with the storage, registration or legal status of more than 50 guns.
“The Board of Stewards…is going to have a special meeting in order to consider the implications,” said Hart House warden Margaret Hancock about the future of the club. It will be asking “whether a firing range is appropriate at a university in 2001.”
“I certainly hope they don’t want to close them down,” said Judith Brown, vice-chair of the shooting clubs. “The fact that an individual had some difficulty […] it doesn’t involve [Hart] House at all.”
The club focuses on Olympic-style shooting, Brown says, and safety was strictly upheld, with all members having to pass a stringent safety course. She says the club’s 380 law-abiding members should not suffer because of this event.
“We don’t want to throw out an activity just because it’s not someone’s cup of tea,” she said.
Brassard is pleading innocent to the charges. “Many of the charges are false […] none of the charges occurred on university property,” said Brassard’s attorney.
