Toronto police arrested three men over the weekend, seized firearms allegedly in their possession and charged them with a total of two dozen firearm-related charges.
Two of the arrests followed the Gun and Gang Task Force executing search warrants on two homes. The third happened after police responded a call from concerned residents about drug use.
Constable Tony Vella said that the arrests weren't connected to each other or recent gun violence in the city, including a mass shooting at a Scarborough block party that killed two people and wounded 23 others.
He said the arrests resulted from people in the community contacting police with tips.
There will be a secondary investigation to find out where the weapons came from and if they were used in any crimes, Const. Vella said.
The Emergency Task Force helped with one of the arrests, at a Rexleigh Drive home near St. Clair Avenue East and Victoria Park Avenue, where police seized a sawed-off bolt-action rifle, a loaded .762 rifle with six rounds and other ammunition on Sunday. Gordon Warner, 37, was hit with 12 charges in relation to those seizures, including two counts of unauthorized possession of a firearm.
On Saturday, police responded to concerns from residents about drug use and disorderly behaviour near Denarda Avenue, off Weston Road, said Const. Vella. Police from the local division allegedly saw 25-year-old Moses Erhirhie running from them and throwing something that looked like a firearm.
Police said they arrested him and seized a loaded Bryco .380 semi-automatic firearm with a magazine and several rounds of ammunition.
Also on Saturday, 22-year-old Roger Robert Ali was arrested after police seized a Harrington and Richardson 732 .32 revolver from a Dombey Road home, near Jane Street and Sheppard Avenue West, police say. Mr. Ali appeared in court on Sunday on six charges.
There were 3,560 firearm seizures last year by Toronto police, according to the force's 2011 statistics report.