Firearms seized and fine issued to man who set up firing range in basement

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This article was published 22/04/2025 (502 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A Manitoba man has been fined $2,000 and prohibited from owning firearms for five years after he manufactured homemade illegal “silencers” for use in his own in-house shooting range.

Luke Redekop, 23, pleaded guilty earlier this month to one count of unauthorized possession of a prohibited device.

“This is someone who got way too carried away with their hobby,” Crown attorney Adam Gingera told provincial court Judge Darcie Yale.

At the time, Redekop was a registered gun owner with licences for both restricted and non-restricted firearms.

Court heard local police and RCMP started investigating Redekop in early 2024 after receiving a tip he had been making firearm suppressors, commonly referred to as silencers.

Police conducted surveillance outside Redekop’s Winkler-area home and heard “noises consistent with gunshots being fired from inside the home,” Gingera said.

“Officers noted that to their ears it sounded like suppressed gunfire.”

Police secured authorization to track Redekop’s whereabouts through his cellphone and executed search warrants for his vehicle, workplace and home.

At Redekop’s home, police seized 20 rifles, four shotguns and a number of handguns, thousands of rounds of ammunition, a homemade cannon, 3D printer and five suppressors, as well as body armour and a gas mask.

In the basement, police found a wooden backboard on which was affixed a paper target peppered with bullet holes.

“You aren’t allowed to shoot your gun inside your home and you aren’t allowed to have a firing range in your basement,” Gingera said.

Taken into custody and questioned by police, Redekop readily admitted to making three suppressors, saying they were for his recreational use.

Asked about his firearm hobby, Redekop said he was “preparing for the end of the world.”

Redekop had no criminal record before the incident.

Gingera said there is no indication Redekop had any criminal intentions in making the suppressors.

“Mr. Redekop obviously went way outside what he was allowed to do by law. While these were criminal offences, he was not engaged in anything of greater criminality; there were no signs he was trafficking these items to others or was engaged in the drug trade,” Gingera said.

Defence lawyer Danny Gunn said Redekop made the suppressors out of “boyish interest,” not with criminal intent, and did not appreciate that the gun parts could be stolen from him and used to commit crimes.

“That wasn’t anything Luke was thinking about. He was just thinking this is cool that I can do this,” Gunn said.

Yale expressed initial concern about Redekop’s “end of the world” comment before Gingera satisfied her there was no evidence or “red flags” to suggest he poses a risk to the community.

“There is no indicia he is going through a psychiatric breakdown that is creating an additional risk. There is no indication he is preparing to arm a militia to arm a group of people to form a militia.”

Yale ordered Redekop forfeit nearly $20,000 worth of firearms, with the balance of his seized weapons being redistributed to identified licenced gun owners.

dean.pritchard@freepress.mb.ca