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The RCMP is further cutting the number of guns used in crimes that will be sent to national forensic labs for analysis, Postmedia has learned.

And that means that in some cases, criminals caught with illegal firearms may not face any charges related to the guns.

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Postmedia revealed last week that the RCMP’s ability to test firearms had declined in recent years due to lab cuts, leading to long delays in investigations.

Retired RCMP Asst. Commissioner Wayne Rideout, who heads the B.C. government’s Illegal Firearms Task Force, confirmed last week that the lab cuts are impacting some criminal cases.

A report he released in November 2017 recommended that the provincial government build its own firearms tracing hub, which has not yet been done.

Now, Postmedia has also learned that further limits on forensic testing were imposed just last week.

The new directive at the national RCMP labs means that guns seized by police in the course of an investigation of an unrelated crime — such as a robbery where the gun was not used — won’t be sent to be examined.