CALGARY — It sounds like something out of a James Bond movie, but police say a pen gun seized in a recent drug bust is deadly and worrisome.
Officials confiscated the illegal weapon from a home in southeast Calgary on March 5.
They say the loaded .22-calibre pen gun is the third they’ve seized since the beginning of 2012.
Police say the weapons are of particular concern because they are easy to conceal and disguise, but can be deadly at close range. Police are working with a national support team to determine where the guns came from, and if they’ve been used in any crimes.
Along with the pen gun, police also discovered various quantities of methadone and heroin, as well as ammunition, knives, brass knuckles and drug paraphernalia.
Collin Dean Oxtoby, who is 39, Rachelle Mae Harkiss, 35, and 44-year-old Vivian Tracey Curran are charged with 23 drug and weapons-related offences.
“This is illegal in Canada, somebody’s obviously using this not for defence but for a possible retaliatory move or to gain the upper hand on something,” said Staff-Sgt. Geoff Gawlinski.
“If a child picked this up, they wouldn’t think this would be a weapon.”
Gawlinski said it looks exactly like a pen and is easy to use — the round goes into the bottom part of the pen, and then the top is simply screwed on. To fire, one clicks the side arm.
He says the round can travel more than half a kilometre.