Photo: RCMP

RCMP on Vancouver Island are trying to find out why a woman was driving with a loaded semi-automatic shotgun and a loaded semi-automatic rifle in her car.

An officer conducting patrols near Victoria saw a car swerving near Helmcken Road and the Island Highway on Saturday night.

He pulled over the vehicle and learned that the woman driving the vehicle was not the registered owner and did not have a valid driver’s licence. She was given a driving prohibition and the vehicle was towed.

The woman called the registered owner of the vehicle to come and pick her up. Soon after, a 23-year-old Saanich woman showed up and it was clear to the officer that she was impaired by drugs. Her vehicle was impounded.

RCMP spokeswoman Const. Nancy Saggar said the officer continued to investigate and found four semi-automatic rifles and a semi-automatic shotgun, which were all seized. One of the rifles and the shotgun were loaded.

The woman had a valid firearm licence, but it’s illegal to have loaded firearms in a vehicle, noted Saggar.

“It is also unknown why the woman had so many firearms in the vehicle with her,” she said. “Given her impaired state and the unsafe storage, this was a public safety concern and the guns were seized.”

The woman will be facing impaired driving charges and firearms-related offences, Saggar said.