Any time we receive a call about domestic violence, whether it's a threat of violence or violence, we attend. In Nova Scotia there's a provincial policy: it's pro-investigation, pro-charge, and pro-arrest. We take it very seriously.
You show up there and do a search of the residence in exigent circumstances. You search the residence for firearms. Most times, if you can get the victim away from the spouse or boyfriend, the first person you're going to ask who has the current knowledge of what's in that house...they'll be honest most times, and you can work with them. That's how we go about it.
I'll go back to the female police officer who was shot in Quebec. She had full belief that the person was prohibited from having firearms and she let her guard down. Complacency is what gets police officers killed. I'd rather have no hope than false hope.