Gun-related and/or hate-related killings or concerns
The California of San Jose is considering legislation which would require gun owners to have liability insurance against firearms injuries or accidents. If approved, it would be unprecedented in the U.S. and some critics argue that it would violate their constitutional right to bear arms. [node:read-more:link]
New York Attorney General Letitia James is being sued by a dozen gun industry stakeholders which are challenging the constitutionality of a law which permits manufacturers and distributors to be taken to court if their weapons are used to commit crimes. The unprecedented legislation was passed by the state legislature last July. [node:read-more:link]
Two Montreal-area men have been charged after the seizure in Ontario of 59 restricted weapons and 110 large-capacity magazines. The RCMP, which worked with Ontario and Quebec provincial police and Akwesasne Mohawk Police, have confirmed that a boat, which was seen Nov. 26 with large sacks, had offloaded its cargo to a vehicle in Cornwall and was intercepted by the RCMP. [node:read-more:link]
Written materials found by police investigating last June’s murder of a Muslim family of four in Ontario evidently indicate that the accused was influenced by a mass killing at two mosques in New Zealand in 2019. [node:read-more:link]
The town of Faro went into lockdown this afternoon when RCMP confirmed that an active shooter had caused an "emergency situation," advising residents, by Twitter and Facebook, to "shelter in place."A possible suspect has since been apprehended. Multiple injuries were reported, but no firm numbers as yet. [node:read-more:link]
A suspect is in custody after eight persons were killed and 28 injured in a shooting at a university today in the Russian city of Perm, about 1,300km east of Moscow. The gunman, wounded by police, was reportedly using a long gun and there are reports that he had a legal permit. [node:read-more:link]
There has been considerable controversy over Bill C-21, which was introduced in February 2021. Let’s take a look. [node:read-more:link]
As the Liberals and Conservatives trade shots during the federal election campaign about gun controls, Statistics Canada data show that criminal gun violence has risen over the last decade or so. However, the homicide rate due to firearms has actually declined slightly in recent years. [node:read-more:link]
A former Ontario resident campaigning to be Mayor of Calgary has pleaded guilty to a hate crime in Ontario in connection with online anti-Muslim posts. Defence counsel for Kevin J. Johnston, who moved to Alberta and is a vocal critic of COVID-19 masking, told an Ontario judge that client had recklessly “crossed the line” by using social media to incite hatred against Muslim students in 2017. [node:read-more:link]
Even though one of his own candidates was insisting that a Conservative government would repeal the Liberal government’s 2020 ban on “assault-style” weapons, Leader Erin O'Toole is sticking with his commitment to retain key elements of the program. He says his focus would be on “illegally smuggled firearms” and “a completely independent public process to fix the classification system.” [node:read-more:link]
Conservative Leader Erin O'Toole has confirmed that if he forms a government after the Sept. 20 election, he would maintain the Liberals’ firearms control measures. Having made the commitment in the French-language campaign debate the night before, he doubled down today, saying that “we will maintain the ban on assault weapons and we will develop a transparent process when it comes to training and licensing for guns, because we need to target street guns and smuggling.” [node:read-more:link]
A recent spike in gun violence in several major centres has revived debate about the federal government’s gun-control agenda. Bill-21, which introduced in the House of Commons February and would have included a buy-back program, saw only minimal debate before Parliament was prorogued for the Sept. 20 general election. The Canadian Coalition for Firearm Rights says the group opposes any measure leading to “confiscation of legal guns.” [node:read-more:link]
U.S. firearms manufacturers Smith & Wesson and Barrett Firearms are on a list of companies being sued in a Masschusetts court by the Mexican government, which says they knew they were contributing to illegal arms trafficking and increased violence in Mexico. Filed Aug. 3, the suit seeks as much as $10 billion in compensation. [node:read-more:link]
A request by Alberta that people be permitted to carry pepper spray for self-defence has been rebuffed by the federal government. The province’s justice minister had argued that victim of hate-motivated violence would have been able to protect themselves. In rebuffing Alberta’s request for changes to the Criminal Code, Ottawa says “the solution cannot simply be to increase accessibility to prohibited weapons” which could provoke further violence. [node:read-more:link]
The shootings at a U.S. Naval Air Station in Florida has prompted the Department of Defense to order a review of how international students enter U.S. training programs. A Saudi Arabian national killed three Americans before committing suicide. Deputy Defense Secretary David Norquist also has suspended operational training for all Saudi students in U.S. military programs. [node:read-more:link]
