How the N.S. gunman got his weapons and who may have helped him in Maine

At least two people in Maine may have broken U.S. federal laws by helping a Nova Scotia man obtain two of the guns he used during the April 2020 rampage that left 22 people dead, a CBC News investigation has found — though it appears unlikely they will face charges.

After police shot and killed the gunman at a gas station in Enfield, N.S., they found five firearms in his possession. Investigators traced three of the weapons back to Houlton, Maine, a small town less than seven kilometres from the New Brunswick border that the shooter visited frequently. 

Court records and documents released by the public inquiry examining the tragedy outline how investigators believe Gabriel Wortman got them. They suggest a longtime friend in Houlton gifted him one handgun and he took another from that man's home. He also arranged to purchase a high-powered rifle for cash after attending a gun show in the town.

The shooter, who didn't have a firearms licence, smuggled the guns into Canada. Based on American law, he should never have been able to obtain them in the first place.

In the U.S., it is illegal for an American to transfer, sell, trade, give, transport or deliver a firearm to someone they know is not a U.S. resident, which includes Canadian tourists. Anyone found in violation may face fines or up to 10 years in prison, depending on the details of the offence.

It appears no one in the U.S. has ever been charged with providing guns used by the shooter.

A retired U.S. federal prosecutor said that's not entirely surprising. Margaret Groban said firearms offences rarely end up in U.S. courts unless the accused is considered a risk to the community.

"Even though it is technically a violent crime and people say, 'Why don't you prosecute the crimes on the books?', there aren't resources available to do that and it may not even be appropriate to do it," said Groban, who worked for the U.S. Department of Justice and now teaches a course in firearms law at the University of Maine. 

"There could be a number of relevant facts that might enter into whether or not public safety would be served since the perpetrator of this awful rampage is deceased." 

She added that the priority is on stopping people "actively engaged in violent crime and using firearms to commit those crimes." 

Technical violations fall much further down the list.

The U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Exposives (ATF) does not have an active investigation underway, according to spokesperson Erik Longnecker. He said he was not aware of any charges related to the Nova Scotia mass shooting being referred at the local, state or federal level. CBC News could find no record of charges filed in court.

The FBI steered questions about the case to Canadian law enforcement, and said it couldn't confirm or deny the existence of an investigation.

Meanwhile, the RCMP bounced questions back to the Americans.