Gun-related and/or hate-related killings or concerns
Unable to deal with widespread gang violence through conventional policing, the government of El Salvador deployed some 10,000 troops to surround the city of Soyapango December 3 as part of a massive crackdown. President Nayib Bukele said “extraction teams from the police and the army are tasked with extricating all the gang members still there one by one.” [node:read-more:link]
Alex Jones, the U.S. conspiracy theorist recently ordered to pay nearly $1.5 billion for claiming that a mass school shooting in 2011 was a hoax, filed for bankruptcy December 2. Jones claims to have no more than $10 million in assets and to $10 billion in debt. A lawyer for the families he defamed families said “the bankruptcy system does not protect anyone who engages in intentional and egregious attacks on others and “like every other cowardly move Alex Jones has made, this bankruptcy will not work.” [node:read-more:link]
Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino has denied that the government plans to outlaw ordinary long guns and hunting rifles, only to reinforce a regulatory ban on “assault style” firearms by enshrining that definition in law. “The government has no intention . . . whatsoever to go after long guns and hunting rifles,” he says, accusing the Conservatives of “fearmongering” as a House committee considers the proposed amendment which would ensure gun manufacturers do not “tweak” designs of prohibited weapons to get around current controls. [node:read-more:link]
The federal government has been accused by Alberta of planning to “ban legal firearm ownership altogether” with a proposed amendment to Bill C-21, a gun-control bill currently before a parliamentary committee. The change would prohibit “a firearm that is a rifle or shotgun, that is capable of discharging centre-fire ammunition in a semi-automatic manner and that is designed to accept a detachable cartridge magazine with a capacity greater than five cartridges of the type for which the firearm was originally designed.” [node:read-more:link]
Manitoba resident Corey Hurren, a military veteran who rammed his truck into a gate at Rideau Hall in Ottawa in July 2020 in an attempt to confront Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, has been granted day parole under strict conditions. Hurren, who had told police he wanted to arrest Trudeau to make a statement about federal coronavirus restrictions and the government’s ban on “assault style” firearms, had been sentenced to six years in prison after pleading guilty to weapons offences and public mischief. [node:read-more:link]
Canada is coordinating sanctions with the U.S. against two Haitian politicians, accusing of them of using their positions “to protect and enable the illegal activities of armed criminal gangs” which have paralyzed their country. Global Affairs Canada says President Youri Latortue and his predecessor, Joseph Lambert, support the gangs “through money laundering and other acts of corruption.” The U.S. Treasury Department says they have “have materially contributed to, or pose a significant risk of materially contributing to, the international proliferation of illicit drugs.” [node:read-more:link]
Halifax District RCMP Police are investigating after a woman was wounded, possibly accidentally, by a bullet fired from an illegal “printed” firearm. Four persons were detained and one was charged with obstructing a police officer. [node:read-more:link]
The SKS, a Russian semi-automatic rifle design dating to 1945, which has been used in several shootings in Canada in recent years, is not covered by the federal government’s list of some 2,000 proscribed “assault” weapons. “It's actually still used in militaries across the world,” says one gun-control advocate. “The only reason why it was not covered . . . is because it's not a modern design,” a criterion “that makes no sense.” [node:read-more:link]
Federal regulations designed to reduce the number of handguns in Canada are in effect but gun-control advocate fear the rules could be undermined by Parliament as it considers draft legislation underpinning the program. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said October 21 that his government has “frozen the market for handguns” in “one of the strongest actions we've taken on gun violence in a generation.” [node:read-more:link]
It has been confirmed that RCMP Commissioner Brenda Lucki reprimanded personnel in Nova Scotia for their communications after last April’s mass shootings in the province. Lucki has said she was not directed by the government to disclose details of the weapons involved but did express frustration with her officers who suspected political interference. [node:read-more:link]
The former leader of the Canadian Nationalist Party was sentenced by a Saskatchewan judge October 20 to a year in jail, less seven months served, for wilfully promoting hatred against Jews. Travis Patron also has been ordered to refrain from posting about Jews for a year after his release. [node:read-more:link]
Pressed by a growing number of sports shooters to broaden an exemption to a planned federal handgun freeze, members of a parliamentary committee find themselves having to balance that with opposition from gun-control advocates. [node:read-more:link]
Two South Simcoe Police Service officer in Ontario are dead today after responding to a domestic call in the town of Innisfil north of Toronto. Taken to separate hospitals after exchanging fire with a civilian, who evidently died at the scene, one officer died late October 11 and the other was confirmed dead early today. [node:read-more:link]
Thirty-two persons, including 23 children at a daycare centre in northeastern Thailand, were killed today by a former police officer. After his knife and gun rampage at the daycare, he is reported to have gone home to shoot his family before committing suicide. Dismissed from the force last year, he was facing trial on drug charges. [node:read-more:link]
Federal Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino says Alberta Justice Minister Tyler Shandro is indulging in “political brinkmanship” over plans to have the RCMP manage a firearms buy-back program in the province. Shandro has said he won’t permit it but Mendicino points out that “matters relating to the control management and administration of the RCMP are within exclusive federal jurisdiction.” [node:read-more:link]
