ATHABASCA – A day of drinking and target shooting wound up with an escalated argument and a pair of firearms charges for an Athabasca man after he pointed an empty weapon at a neighbour during a late-night argument.
Ronald Peter Nimco, 36, pleaded guilty to careless use of a firearm and possession of a weapon dangerous to the public during a Jan. 7 appearance in the Athabasca Court of Justice. As part of a joint submission between Crown prosecutor Matthew Kerr and defence counsel Stephen Brophy, Nimco will serve a six-month conditional sentence order (CSO), as well as probation, and will be prohibited from owning any guns for a five-year term.
“Firearms are serious; I can tell you this much, had it been loaded, we wouldn’t be talking,” said Justice G.A. Rice, who accepted the joint submission.
On Oct. 20, around 3 a.m. in the morning, Nimco, his girlfriend, and another man were at an Athabasca County residence, alongside Nimco’s step-daughter. The trio had been drinking since suppertime the day before, and an argument broke out between Nimco and his step-daughter.
The other man attempted to break up the argument, which led to Nimco becoming more agitated, and he began yelling. Nimco picked up an unloaded rifle that had been laying on the bench beside him, but the other man is able to push it away.
After the RCMP arrived, Nimco helped the officers locate the firearms, including a 12-guage shotgun and a .300 caliber rifle. Neither firearm was stored properly, which Nimco admitted was due to laziness on his behalf; after the group had returned from target shooting, he had neglected to return the weapons to their storage safe.
Kerr said while the offence was serious, Nimco’s cooperation throughout the entire process, as well as some potential issues with the Crown’s case justified the lighter sentence.
Nimco will have a curfew, as well as a non-contact and non-attendance clause with the man he was arguing with. He is prohibited from owning firearms during the CSO, as well as on the probation order that follows, and has to pay a $200 victim-fine surcharge.
“We’ve got somebody that’s drinking, we’ve got a gun being brandished, it’s not good. It’s not walking down the street with a rifle in your hands, but it’s not good.” said Rice.
“You’ve stopped drinking, you’ve pleaded guilty to this, all that is really good and that changes things. Obviously, you’re a person that respects police and authority, so that’s important.”
