A man found asleep inside a vehicle at Cattle Point on Sunday morning by an Oak Bay police officer turned out to have a firearm with him and was arrested.
The officer first observed about 8:20 a.m. that the vehicle had no front licence plate and was backed into a stall reserved for boat trailers.
He then spotted the sleeping driver and approached him.
The driver was unable to produce either a driver’s licence or registration, and told the officer there was a firearm in the vehicle.
At that point, the officer spotted a rifle buttstock within reach of the driver.
It turned out to be from an unloaded lever-action rifle without a trigger lock, and had nine rounds of ammunition stored in the buttstock’s sleeve.
The man was arrested for unsafe storage of a firearm and also issued a ticket for the missing front plate.
He was later released on an undertaking to appear at a future court date.
Police said the investigation is continuing.
