On Thu, 4 Jul 2013 03:15:43 +0000 (UTC), (Edward A.
This begs the question of whether the police had a right to
break into the homes in the first place.

Arguably, keeping the guns out of the hands of looters was a public
safety issue. I dunno if Canadian law allows police to break into
homes for that purpose.

Break in, probably not. But, when I owned several handguns, the police
had a right at any time without a warranty to come and demand to see
my firearms and to ensure that they were properly secured. ~ Not that
it ever happened, but the right of police did exist.

Firearm restrictions have increased since then, so I can see no reason
why those police rights don't still exist. Of course, back then it was
just for handguns. For all I know it's been expanded to include long
guns too.