The man who was at the centre of a 29-hour armed standoff with police in West Nipissing in 2017 has failed to convince a judge to restore his gun licence.
Lorence Hud released the hit song ‘Sign of the Gypsy Queen’ in the early 1970s and it later became an even bigger hit for Canadian rockers April Wine. More recently, Hud was in the news for the bizarre standoff with police in 2017 in Verner, Ont., which led to him losing his gun licence. That dispute was centred on drainage issues that began in 2007.
Repairs were needed to the Goulard Drain, which was located on Hud’s property. After some repair work was completed, Hud told municipal staff he was unhappy with the work and barred anyone else from his property.
A court order in 2010 forced him to give access to repair staff. After the work was complete, he began a series of lawsuits related to the drain repair.
When the suits were dismissed by the courts, Hud sued the Attorney General of Canada in 2014 and tried to get a meeting with the prime minister – first Stephen Harper, then Justin Trudeau.
He sought $28 million in damages but the claim was thrown out and he had to pay court costs. He appealed the decision in 2015 but the Supreme Court of Canada refused to hear the case.
By the time of the armed standoff in July 2017, Hud’s property had been put up for sale because he hadn’t paid his tax bill.
The 29-hour standoff followed. Armed with a handgun, he was joined by an American woman in Canada illegally. They posted YouTube videos begging then U.S. President Donald Trump for help.
The standoff ended peacefully and Hud was charged with possessing a weapon for a dangerous purpose, two counts of careless storage of a firearm, weapon or ammunition.
In a peace bond he agreed to in July 2019, the Crown dropped all criminal charges and prohibited him from having any firearm except for his 12-gauge shotgun.
However, it is illegal to use, possess or own firearms without a firearms licence obtained from the chief firearms officer who makes decisions independent of the Crown.
In August 2019, the firearms officer wrote Hud telling him that his firearms licence was being revoked.
“Regardless of how this played out in criminal court, your behaviour is of the utmost concern,” the letter said.
“You forced a stand-off with police that ended approximately 29 hours after it started and only when a peaceful solution could not be reached. Police entered the residence and you had to be subdued by a conducted energy weapon, as you were armed with a .45 calibre handgun that was loaded and ready to use. You later commented to police that you could have shot the officers that entered the residence one by one until they shot you.”
However, there were miscommunications with the firearms officer that led the OPP to mail Hud a firearms licence in September 2019.
He was told in October that his licence was revoked and he launched the appeal in the Ontario Court of Justice.
A 2021 decision agreed with the decision to revoke his licence and another appeal was launched.
Hud’s lawyer argued that the firearms officer made a mistake in not deferring to the Crown when it dropped the criminal case against him. That argument was rejected.
Another argument was that the judge failed to consider issues related to Canada’s Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
But the appeals judge ruled that Hud’s lawyer didn’t make any Charter arguments.
“The transcript of Nov. 22, 2021, then shows that Mr. Hud’s counsel proceeded with calling evidence, and never in fact argued or presented evidence of a Charter breach,” the judge ruled.
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“It may be helpful to note here, nonetheless, that the Supreme Court of Canada has held that ‘possession and use of firearms is not a right or freedom guaranteed under the Charter, but a privilege.’”
The judge also noted that many of the items Hud was seeking were beyond the court’s power to grant.
“Mr. Hud included an order allowing him to return to his home, that the police destroy any and all records pertaining to him, that the police be found to have violated the Charter, that police officers and Crown attorneys be found to have committed perjury and that he be awarded punitive damages,” the judge wrote.
“These are simply not available reliefs under this process.”
Read the full decision here.
