In a bold move, Justin Trudeau and the Canadian Liberal Government have pushed through new firearm legislation further restricting gun ownership of 1500 “assault-style” firearms effective immediately. According to Public Safety Minister Bill Blair “As of today, the market for assault weapons in Canada is closed. Enough is enough. Banning these firearms will save Canadian lives." But what exactly have they banned? And will it make a tangible difference to gun violence in Canada?
Apparently “assault style” equates to “military-style rifle”. Fully automatic weapons are already banned in Canada. So, while this new legislation will prevent new purchases of the listed semi automatic firearms, it will also remove firearms from licenced gun owners who presumably have managed to own these guns legally and not perpetrated a crime. In fact, according to Statistics Canada, firearm homicides between 2014-2018, an average of 22.4% of homicides were perpetrated by rifle or shotgun (one category), as compared to the 58.7% that used handguns. Unfortunately, statistics are not available to separate rifles from shotguns, or more, the newly restricted rifles from the balance. Also unavailable are statistics on registered firearms vs illegal firearms.
Based on the Firearm-related crime in Canada report by Yvan Clermont, Director Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics to Statistics Canada Standing Senate Committee on National Security and Defence, on February 18, 2019, gun crime accounts for less than one half of one percent of overall police-reported crime in Canada and just 3% of violent crime in Canada. Unlike many other types of crime, rates of firearm-related violent crime are similar in rural and urban areas. However, more than two-thirds of firearm-related violent crime in urban areas involves handguns.
This begs the question; why rifles? This legislation does nothing to protect Canadians from the type of firearm more than twice as likely to be used in a crime.
And while anti-gun activists will undoubtedly assert that the Nova Scotia shooter, responsible for the biggest killing spree in Canada, used two long guns now banned by this legislation, RCMP confirm he also used “several” semi-automatic pistols not covered by the legislation. The RCMP also stated they have a “fairly good idea” that the guns were purchased in the US and the shooter did not have the required Canadian licences (Possession and Acquisition Licence and Restricted Firearms Licence).
Also, according the Stats Canada, shootings between 2014-2018 accounted for an average of 34.7% of homicides compared to 31.7% from stabbing and 19% from beating. This congers images like that of 27-year-old, Scarborough resident, Tharshika Jeganathan, being brutally murdered by her ex-husband wielding a machete on September 11, 2019 while on lookers stood by helplessly. Or the Toronto van attack on April 23, 2018 where 10 people were killed and 16 more injured.
Perhaps Canadians are too influenced by US media. America has the highest rate of civilian gun ownership in the world. According to the Small Arms Survey 2017, there are an average of 120.5 guns per 100 inhabitants. Compare this to just 34.7 per 100 Canadians. Considering the population of the US was 328 million in 2019 and the population of Canada was only 37 million, the math on gun numbers is staggering. Firearm related homicides in 2015 in Canada totaled 179, in the US that number was exponentially higher at 13,286.
The existing legislation and licencing are effective for law abiding gun owners in Canada. The government has pushed this through on the wave of great tragedy, without proper discussion and debate. Perhaps there is room for firearm reform but this legislation has missed its mark.
For a full list of newly restricted items go to https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/6880974-Canada-Gazette-May-1-2020-Part-II.html
To read a Pro gun legislation opinion piece go to https://actonup.ca/news/opinion-assault-rifle-ban-a-step-in-the-right-direction
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