CTV has learned that when it comes to gun crimes in British, nine out of ten don't lead to convictions.
When asked to explain the low conviction rate, B.C. Attorney General Wally Oppal explained that prosecutors must prove knowledge when it comes to allegations of gun possession.
But since knowledge is a state of mind, it's tough to prove, he said.
"For instance, if you are driving a friends car, and unbeknownst to you there's a pound of heroin in that car, we have to ask ourselves, would it be fair to convict you of possession of that heroin,'' said Oppal.
But the Attorney General said changing the law wouldn't necessarily solve the problem.
"Well as I said, there's a very big possibility that if you do change the law and you water away the requirement of knowledge, you might very well convict a lot of innocent people,'' he said.
It's a troubling scenario for people like Steve Brown. That's because he is the brother of Ed Schellenberg, an innocent victim in the infamous Surrey six shooting case, where two innocent bystanders lost their lives.
Brown says the legal system is in denial.
Meanwhile Const. Lindsey Houghton of the Vancouver Police Department says he can understand Brown's frustration.
"Again, if the numbers one in ten, the numbers one is ten, certainly we'd love it to be ten out of ten, but we're doing the best we can,'' he said.
With a report by CTV British Columbia's St. John Alexander
