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Kamloops  

Man jailed after police find 'Frankenstein gun' holstered beneath his jacket

'Frankenstein gun' nets jail

A Kamloops man who was caught by police with "a Frankenstein gun” holstered beneath his jacket has been sentenced to six months in prison.

Because of time served since his arrest, Michael George Luttman’s sentence is one of time served.

The 38-year-old pleaded guilty in Kamloops provincial court on Wednesday to one count of possessing ammunition contrary to a prohibition.

Court heard a Mountie was making patrols near an alley off the 1000-block of Surrey Avenue on Sept. 22 when he spotted a vehicle missing a front licence plate.

When the officer approached the vehicle, the driver, later identified as Luttman, was refusing to keep his hands visible.

Crown prosecutor Andrew Duncan said the Mountie opened the vehicle’s door and saw what he believed to be a firearm. Luttman was removed from the vehicle and placed in handcuffs.

“Police did a pat-down search of him and ultimately, when they opened his jacket, they found holsters under his arms that contain what appear to be two restricted firearms — two handguns,” Duncan said.

One gun was determined to be a BB gun, but the other was part handgun and part BB gun.

“It was determined to be a modified BB gun that had the lower portion of a BB gun and the upper portion of a real restricted firearm, a Sig handgun,” Duncan said. “It had basically been cobbled together.”

Kamloops provincial court Judge Marianne Armstrong referred to the weapon as “a Frankenstein gun.”

Police suspected the gun was a ghost gun — a firearm made to be untraceable — but testing determined it was not capable of firing a live round.

Despite that, Duncan said, it was loaded with nine-millimetre rounds.

“There’s a question that I have about whether Mr. Luttman knew that it could not fire,” Duncan said. “But that is not an issue to determine today. We just know that it was not capable of firing.”

Luttman was placed on a lifetime firearms prohibition following a 2021 conviction on gun charges. That order also prohibits him from possessing ammunition.

Duncan and defence lawyer James Ross suggested a joint submission for a six-month jail sentence — which works out to time served — to be followed by two years of probation.

Ross said Luttman is a former Canadian Forces soldier who later worked as an iron worker.

Luttman said he wants to lead a productive life.

“I’d like to take this opportunity to apologize for my actions,” he said. “Not only have I hurt myself, but I have hurt everyone close in my life that believed in me.”

Armstrong went along with the joint submission. While on probation, Luttman will be prohibited from possessing any weapons or imitation firearms, including BB guns.

He was also handed a second lifetime firearms prohibition.



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