Sookram said he was shocked to discover a rusting .38 calibre handgun and some bullets wrapped in a decaying plastic bag and hidden in his backyard.

The 36-year-old and his family just moved a month ago to the Morton Way home, backing onto Morton Way Public School northwest of Steeles Avenue and McLaughlin Road.

He was doing some landscaping with his brother Thursday afternoon when they found the weapon hidden under the hollow cement step he uses to step outside his back sliding door onto his patio.

"I was shocked, frozen, everything in one," Sookram said when he realized it was the butt of a handgun sticking out of the ragged plastic he'd uncovered.

He said it appears the gun had been hidden under the step for years.

Peel police were called and "came in a blink" to collect the weapon, he said, impressed with the quick response.

Forensic identification officers couldn't detect any fingerprints on the gun because of the deterioration, and Sookram said the serial number had been filed off.

However, the gun has been sent to Toronto's Centre of Forensic Sciences for closer scrutiny. It will be tested and examined to see if it has been used in the commission of any crimes, according to police.

Despite the shocking discovery, Sookram said he still considers Canada to be a "safe haven" for him, his wife and three children. They moved here from Trinidad just three months ago to escape crime and violence there, he said.

"It was scary (seeing the gun) because we left Trinidad because of the same," he said.

He is looking on the positive side of the discovery, though.

"The good thing is, it's one gun off the street," he said. "A little kid might have gotten it, or it might have gotten into the wrong hands."