November 15, 1991 88 pages Classifieds 986-6222 Office, Editorial 985-2131

News photo Mike Wakelietd

TCM BONGALIS, president of the North Vancouver-based firearms company Cas-
tle Armoury, and five-year-old granddaughter Sarah Branson display a blank-firing
tommy-gun. Bongalis fears that converted guns, such as these used by the focal
film industry, will be subject to confiscation by the government now that new
gun-control legislation is in place.

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ve the

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NV business says new legislation
will hurt Canadian film industry

THE OWNER

of a North Vancouver-based firearms

business specializing in the supply of biank-firing weapons
to the fifm industry believes the ‘‘catastrophic’’? new gun
control legislation passed last week in Ottawa will lead to a
reduction in Canada’s film-making business.

Tam Bongalis, president of
Castle Armour has been
operating locally as a firearms
retailer and rental supplier since
1960. .

The operation has grown to the
point where today it is recognized
as the country’s major supplier of
blank-firing rental guas. Most of
the more than 1,000 rental hand-
guns, rifles, shotguns and
machine guns have been rendered
useless as firearms by the com-
pany’s gunsmiths.

Approximately 60% of Castie
Armoury trade involves the supply
of blank-firing guns to the local
film industry.

Of the 10 TV series and feature
films currently listed as under
production focally, according to
the B.C. Film Commission,
Bongalis’ company is supplying
blank-firing weaponry to nine of
the projects.

In 1990, a year that saw SO
television and feature film pro-
ductions shot in B.C. for a totat
production budget value of just
over $322 million (just over $188
million spent in B.C.), the locat
firearms company supplied
blank-firing guns to 30 of the pro-
jects.

Of the 29 productions under
way to June of this year, Castle
Armoury has done business with
22 projects.

With producers often looking
for new gun technololgy, Bongalis
says the Bill C-17 gun-control leg-
islation may eveniually force him
out of the rental business by ban-
ning the importation of military
assault-type weapons into Canada.

The categorical prohibition of
firearms converted from fully-
automatic to semi-automatic
covers most of the company’s
present stock of movie guns.

Canadian gun dealers have not
been able to imporc fully-
automatic guns into the country
since 1978.

A production company current-

By Michael Becker
News Reporter

ly filming a feature in B.C. re-
quired eight fully-automatic
blank-firing Thompson sub-
machine guns. Castle Armoury
has a few of the weapons, which
it obtained prior to the import
ban.

But the feature film company
simply brought most of the
blank-firing machine guns into
B.C. through a Californian sup-
plier.

Bongalis says he wants a level
playing field to enable him to im-
port firearms for conversion to
blank-firing guns for the movie
industry.

‘(Justice Minister) Kim Caimp-
bell said last night (Wednesday)
that we're covered une i
dustrial clause in the Criminal
Code. | phoned the local RCMP
this morning and they went
through the Criminal Code and
they could find nothing on it. |
pheued over to provincial firearms
over in Victoria and they knew
nothing about it. | phoned the
RCMP in Ottawa and they
couldn't find anything. So
whether she’s giving us the snow
job or it's a stall tactic, | don’t
know,”' he said.

Bongalis is also secki
legislative protection te cover his
existing stock.

Campbell was unavailable for
comment to press time.

But said North Vancouver MP
Chuck Cook, ‘I haven't had a
chance to really look at the thing,
but I’m sure it’s one of those
things that will sort itself out. I
know the government is stupid at
times, but even this government
isn’t that stupid that it’s going to
shut down the movie industry
because they won't allow a few
guns in which are going to be
adapted anyway.”*

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