POT GROWER MUST GIVE UP HIS GUNS, RULES HIGH COURT

HALIFAX (CP) -- Canada's highest court has ruled that a ban on firearms
isn't cruel and unusual punishment for a Nova Scotia pot grower.

The top court has ruled that owning or possessing a firearm is a privilege,
not a right, and one that Philip Neil Wiles could legally lose for growing
marijuana at his rural home.

"The mandatory prohibition relates to a recognized sentencing goal -- the
protection of the public, and in particular, the protection of police
officers engaged in the enforcement of drug offences," Justice Louise
Charron wrote in a unanimous ruling.

Charron pointed out that if Parliament can require gun owners to be
licensed and register their weapons, then it can ban them from owning those
weapons when it deems fit.

"Possession and use of firearms is not a right or a freedom guaranteed
under the charter, but a privilege."

On April 16, 2001, police arrived at Wiles's home after responding to an
accidental 911 call by one of his daughters. They found a marijuana grow
operation, seized about $2,000 worth of hydroponic grow equipment, and
noted six licensed, properly stored guns in the house that they didn't seize.

Wiles pleaded guilty to two drug-related charges, but the provincial court
judge didn't order the firearms ban, ruling that the $3,500 penalty -- the
cost of a fine, plus the six weapons he'd have to forfeit -- was too high
for the labourer.

But the Nova Scotia Court of Appeal imposed the ban, saying weapons are a
big concern for police officers doing drug raids.