Many guns seized at Coutts border blockade are used for hunting: defence

A defence lawyer for one of two men accused of conspiracy to commit murder at the border blockade at Coutts, Alta., has suggested many of the guns seized by police are rifles used for hunting small game.

Katherin Beyak made the comment during cross-examination of an RCMP firearms expert.

Her client, Chris Carbert, and his co-accused, Anthony Olienick, were arrested in 2022, after police seized a cache of weapons, ammunition and body armour from trailers near the blockade.

1:33 Cell phone evidence heard in Coutts border blockade trial

The blockade tied up traffic for two weeks at the busy Canada-U.S. border crossing in a protest of COVID-19 measures and vaccine mandates.

The trial has heard that among the seized weapons was a prohibited semi-automatic AR-15 rifle and several restricted .45-calibre semi-automatic handguns.

Olienick and Carbert are also charged with mischief and possession of a weapon for a dangerous purpose, and Olienick faces a further charge of being in possession of a pipe bomb.