TORONTO, Canada aEUR ” A few weeks back, the Rev. Sky Starr conducted a funeral in north Toronto for a shooting victim aged 24 years. She noticed a young man among the mourners.
Starr recalls, “I saw this youth kneeling at the casket. He was praying.” Starr received a phone call the next morning letting her know that the young mourner had died. He had been shot and killed in the night.
Canada’s 2019 rate for violent deaths by firearms was 0.5 per 100,000, which is eighth behind the U.S. However, shootings have been increasing since 2014. However, shootings have been trending upward since 2014.
Canada has a federal regulation of weapons. Gun ownership in Canada is not an individual right, unlike the U.S. The government of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has implemented a number of anti-gun violence laws since 2020, the date of Canada’s worst mass shooting. This includes legislation that bans 1,500 assault-style firearms.
Bill C-21, the latest gun control bill, was introduced at May’s end. It proposes to reduce domestic handgun supply through the freezing of new sales and transfers. The legislation is currently being considered in Canada’s House of Commons.
It also increases penalties for smuggling firearms, aEUR,” one of the most difficult challenges facing the country. This is as part of its efforts to combat weapons trafficking from the United States.
During hearings in February on gun violence, Toronto Police Service Chief Myron Demkiw stated that “our problem in Toronto is] handguns imported from the United States.” He stated that “86%” of the crime handguns in his city were able to be obtained from the United States last year.
Benoit DubA(c), the head of Operation Centaur (an interagency gun violence taskforce in Quebec) told the parliamentary panel that many weapons taken in connection to crimes in Quebec were also from the U.S.
DubA(c), who testified that “We must focus our efforts upon the borders between Canada and the United States,” said DubA(c).
Jooyoung Lee, University of Toronto sociologist who studies gun violence, says that “the laws in many states are very porous and easy to circumvent if you want a gun and then route it into the illicit marketplace.”
In Nova Scotia, 22 people were killed in a mass shooting that took place in 2020. It happened over 13 hours. Three of his weapons were smuggled from Maine into the back of his pickup truck.
Police in southern Ontario found a drone with 11 handguns stuck in a tree and recovered it in April. However, smugglers often transport weapons in vehicles such as trucks or boats.
How can illegal guns get into the hands of Canadian criminals? #LambtonOPP recently discovered that drones were being used to transport prohibited weapons from the United States. This drone was located Friday morning near Port Lambton, stuck in a tree, transporting 11 handguns.^jb pic.twitter.com/SnGybiAkp3
But it’s not only illicit markets that are the problem. Vancouver Police Staff Sgt. Michael Rowe stated that concerns also include firearm parts such as Glock barrels or slides. He said they can legally be shipped to Canada.
Rowe stated, “These parts are being utilized to manufacture the untraceable Ghost Guns that we see being used during our Gang Conflicts.”
Canadian Doctors for Protection from Guns says that gun violence is far less prevalent in Canada than it is in the United States.
He warns, however, that gun violence in Canada is a “massive public health crisis” that will have lasting consequences.
Toronto Police Service reported 201 shootings in June this year, up 15% compared to last year. Homicides are up 29%
Lee, a sociologist, praises Canada for its newest gun control law. However, he also says that he believes that crime prevention is often overlooked.
Lee states that more resources could be used to support prevention efforts in areas where handgun violence is most common, such as “racially marginalized and underserved communities.” So that means investing in those areas and supporting young people aEUR.” It is usually young men who are most at risk of becoming an offender or victim in a shooting, so they can’t take that path.
Audette Shephard says that the pandemic disrupted programs designed to intervene with young people who are most at risk of becoming involved in gun violence. After her 19-year old son Justin was killed and shot in 2001, the Toronto mother turned to anti-violence advocacy.
Shephard explains that many young people fled on their own when the pandemic started.
Despite the difficulties presented by illegal weapons, gun control advocates insist that Canada should take many steps to reduce gun violence.
“U.S. firearms don’t only kill Americans; they also kill Canadians.” But, there are still things we can do despite that, and that is really what we have had to focus our efforts on,” Wendy Cukier, president, Coalition for Gun Control, a Canadian non-profit that has advocated for gun legislation including a ban on handguns.
She notes that guns involved in Canadian suicides and incidents of intimate partner violence are mostly sourced from Canada. Red flag provisions are included in the latest legislation, as well as measures to remove gun licenses from individuals who have been involved in stalking or domestic violence. With the exception of Nova Scotia, the majority of mass shootings in Canada have involved legally owned guns or stolen guns from Canadian gun owners. She and other activists support government action to stop these weapons.
“Guns are crossing the border illegally in the United States. But taking out the domestic supply of handguns will definitely help Canada. It’s that simple.” Ken Price, whose daughter Samantha was hurt in the mass shooting in Toronto’s Danforth neighborhood in July 2018, says it all. 15 people were killed and two others were injured in the shooting. The handgun of the perpetrator was found to have been stolen from another province.
Price believes that government action such as freezing handgun sales will stop Canada ever approaching the number mass shootings in the United States.
