HIGH RIVER — RCMP revealed Thursday that officers have seized a "substantial amount" of firearms from homes in the evacuated town of High River.
"We just want to make sure that all of those things are in a spot that we control, simply because of what they are," said Sgt. Brian Topham.
"People have a significant amount of money invested in firearms ... so we put them in a place that we control and that they're safe."
That news didn't sit well with a crowd of frustrated residents who had planned to breach a police checkpoint northwest of the town as an evacuation order stretched into its eighth day.
"I find that absolutely incredible that they have the right to go into a person's belongings out of their home," said resident Brenda Lackey, after learning Mounties have been taking residents' guns. "When people find out about this there's going to be untold hell to pay."