Former Member of Parliament, 78-year-old Inky Mark, has been a long-time and vocal opponent of the increasingly restrictive Canadian firearms laws. Mark’s father and grandfather had immigrated to Canada from China in 1923. Mark and his mother came to Canada when he was five years old, fleeing Chinese communist oppression in 1953. Mark could not immigrate earlier due to the Chinese Immigration Act of 1923.
Inky Mark served as a member of Parliament for 13 years, 3 months, and 15 days. He was fiercely independent with a strong conservative bent. He criticized highly restrictive Canadian firearms laws and Conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper.
On March 21, 2026, at a gun show in Newfolden in the northwestern corner of Minnesota, about 50 miles south of the Canadian border, Wilfred Kachurowski, 73, was looking at the items in the show. Wilfred is a Canadian citizen who has a residence in Dauphin, Manitoba. Inky Mark also has a residence in Dauphin.
Merely looking at firearms or purchasing a firearm may not have been Kachurowski’s intention. He is reported by inews.tv as taking a .38 caliber firearm from one of the gun show tables and placing it in a bag attached to his walker. The owner of the firearm followed him and tackled him to the floor. The police were called. Later reporting by CBC.com stated the revolver was a Taurus Judge chambered for .45 Colt/.410 shotgun rounds. Kachurowski was arrested and taken to jail. He was later released on bail. He returned to Canada on March 28.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection notified the Manitoba RCMP that Kachurowski had been charged with the theft of a handgun on March 23. Kachurowski was still in custody at that point. The owner of the handgun stated Kachurowski matched the description of a suspect in a previous theft from a Grand Forks, North Dakota gun show in 2025.
The RCMP used the information to obtain a search warrant for Kachurowski’s home in Dauphin, Manitoba. The search was conducted on April 15. During the search, the police found seven firearms, two of which had been reported as stolen in the United States. On one, the serial number had been altered. The firearms were not stored as required by Canadian law. Some of them were loaded.
The firearms appear to be a pistol caliber carbine, a revolving shotgun, and five revolvers. Revolvers with a barrel less than 105mm are highly restricted in Canada. The short-barreled shotgun may not be legal in Canada, as short barreled shotguns are legal in Canada only if they come from the factory with a short barrel. The shotgun in the image appears to have had its barrel shortened by simply cutting the barrel off at a convenient point. The RCMP is reported as saying the firearms were not stored in compliance with Canadian law.
One or more of the guns found at Kachurowski’s residence were linked to former Member of Parliament Inky Mark.
RCMP investigators allege that the firearms had been purchased by a second suspect and were never lawfully transferred to Kachurowski. The RCMP obtained a warrant to search former MP and gun collector Inky Mark’s residence. On July 7, 2026 the RCMP executed the search warrant.
At Inky Mark’s residence, they found and seized 439 guns. Some are alleged not to have been stored properly by Canadian standards. Some were antiques. RCMP investigators allege that at least three firearms had been illegally trafficked and that one firearm had a tampered serial number. Canadian and U.S. media have made much of the fact that Inky Mark’s collection contained a muzzle-loading antique cannon. Police described the cannon as an antique. If it legally qualifies as an “antique firearm” under Canadian law, it may be subject to different licensing, registration, and transfer rules than modern firearms.
Police also seized more than C$300,000 in cash. The RCMP release did not explain whether authorities allege the money represented proceeds of firearm sales, and possession of a large amount of cash is not by itself proof of criminal activity. Given the size of the collection and the apparent presence of collectible firearms, its value may be substantial. From the pictures in the media, many of the firearms are valuable antiques and high-dollar modern firearms.
The RCMP charged Inky Mark with 12 firearms-related offenses. The offenses included: Unsafe storage of firearms, careless use of a firearm, possession of a property obtained by crime, and possession of a firearm with a tampered serial number.
A 78-year-old, former Member of Parliament (MP), firearms collector, and refugee from the People’s Republic of China has been released under conditions. In Canada, this is essentially the same as being released on bail in the USA. Former MP Inky Mark has admitted to the illegal transfer of three firearms. In a cbc.ca article, Mark states that the $300,000 came from property sales in Dauphine. He says the illegal transfers were not sales. From Inky Mark:
“I didn’t sell anything. I transferred — according to them illegally, which it was,” he said. “I did it three times, stupid me.”
Inky Mark’s legal problems likely stem from the highly restrictive firearms laws in Canada. So far, it appears that three firearms have been found to have been stolen at some point during their existence. The charges include requirements for storing the firearms. Those requirements are nearly non-existent in the USA. Over the course of a long and successful life, I do not find it unusual for a man who fled Communist China to have $300,000 Canadian (213,000 U.S. dollars) in cash at his residence. It is hard to discount the political symbolism of the case. A man who fought the highly restrictive firearms laws, in the name of liberty, is caught in their tentacles. While three firearms are said to have been “illegally trafficked”, it is not clear if two or all of them may be from the case of Wilfred Kachurowski. The charges mostly appear to be malum prohibitum, (bad by definition of law). With the restoration of Second Amendment rights ongoing in the American courts, such cases are becoming less likely south of the Canadian border.
About Dean Weingarten:
Dean Weingarten has been a peace officer, a military officer, was on the University of Wisconsin Pistol Team for four years, and was first certified to teach firearms safety in 1973. He taught the Arizona concealed carry course for fifteen years until the goal of Constitutional Carry was attained. He has degrees in meteorology and mining engineering, and retired from the Department of Defense after a 30 year career in Army Research, Development, Testing, and Evaluation.
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