A rchive Date
[ 07-09-2019 ]
Category
[ International Relations ]
sub-Categoy
[ Canada ]
|
[https://torontosun.com/opinion/columnists/goldstein-trudeaus-own-government-knows-a-handgun-ban-wont-work
Trudeau’s own government knows a handgun ban won’t work
Lorrie Goldstein
Published: August 10, 2019
Updated: August 10, 2019 5:12 PM EDT
Since Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government is talking about making the banning of handguns an election issue, let’s examine the evidence that shows why it won’t be effective — which comes from Trudeau’s government.
Here’s what Trudeau’s point man on the issue of banning handguns — former Toronto Police chief Bill Blair, now Trudeau’s Border Security and Organized Crime Reduction Minister — told the Globe and Mail in June.
“It would not, in my opinion, be perhaps the most effective measure in restricting the access that criminals would have to such weapons, because we’d still have a problem with them coming across the border.”
On that point, Toronto Police Chief Mark Saunders said during a news conference Friday that, “in recent years, we have seen that 80% of the firearms are coming in from the border,” as opposed to the past where guns purchased legally and sold into the black market were 50% of the problem.
Saunders also said the recent spate of gun violence in Toronto is being caused primarily by street gangs.
Now let’s consider what the Trudeau government said about banning handguns in a discussion paper released in April by Public Safety Canada titled: “A Dialogue on Handguns and Assault Weapons.”
“The vast majority of owners of handguns and of other firearms in Canada lawfully abide by requirements, and most gun crimes are not committed with legally-owned firearms.
“Recent estimates indicate that there are about 900,000 handguns registered to individuals in Canada. In most cases, individuals own handguns either in the context of sport shooting activities or because those handguns form a part of a collection… Any ban of handguns … would primarily affect legal firearms owners…”
The Trudeau government has estimated the cost to Canadian taxpayers of banning handguns would be up to $2 billion in order to compensate legal owners.
On the theory that banning handguns would reduce gun crime the Trudeau government discussion paper said:
“In all cases the data does not conclusively demonstrate that … handgun … bans have led to reductions in gun violence… The variation in study results reflects the fact that patterns of gun violence are influenced by many factors and the impact cannot be attributed to one factor.”
For example, another factor might be that in Toronto alone as of Friday, according to Saunders, 326 people charged with firearms offences were out on bail.
Toronto Mayor John Tory, who has been calling for the Trudeau government to enact a national ban on handguns for months, told CBC radio’s The House Saturday a city-wide ban might be more doable and quicker to implement.
That would be in line with what Blair told the Star in June, that the Trudeau Liberals will not legislate a national handgun ban but campaign on giving municipalities more power to restrict handguns.
Tory’s position is a reversal of the one he took in the 2014 mayoral race he won when, in response to opponent Olivia Chow calling for a handgun ban, he said:
“Handguns are already strictly regulated by the federal government. What Ms. Chow doesn’t seem to understand is that criminals and gang members don’t obey the law. Calling for such a ban isn’t leadership. It’s an empty gesture.”
Rather than spend $2 billion compensating legal handgun owners for taking away their guns, surely this money would be better spent enhancing police resources to fight gun crime, increase border security and address such root causes of gun violence as poverty.
lgoldstein@postmedia.com
© 2019 Postmedia Network Inc. All rights reserved. Unauthorized distribution, transmission or republication strictly prohibited.
 World Fact Book (CIA)]
|