MONCTON, N.B. — RCMP officers in New Brunswick are challenging a claim by their assistant commissioner that every patrol vehicle in the province has a carbine firearm.
Two Mounties at different detachments say they have some of the high-powered rifles, but can't use them because they haven't been trained.
That means they and many of the officers in their districts can't go out on calls with the weapons, which the force pledged to roll out after Justin Bourque gunned down three RCMP members in Moncton in 2014.
The members, who didn't want to use their names, were responding to a recent comment by Assistant Commissioner Roger Brown that every patrol vehicle has a carbine.
RCMP spokeswoman Jullie Rogers-Marsh says the force has a sufficient number of the carbines, but that "they wouldn't necessarily be in every car depending on who's on shift and the operational need."
One member says the assertion seemed like an "outright lie" as most officers he works with cannot use the weapon, while many of their patrol vehicles do not yet have the proper rack inside the car to hold the carbine.
