Gun-related and/or hate-related killings or concerns
Public Safety Minister Bill Blair says a “very clearly articulated list” of military-style long guns the government plans to ban will be published “as quickly as possible.” He says he doesn’t want “individuals going out and acquiring those weapons before the publishing of that list.” [node:read-more:link]
Carmen Gentile, a longtime conflict reporter who was severely injured while embedded with U.S. troops in Afghanistan in 2010, writes that the angry protests against the COVID-19 lockdowns in some U.S. states frighten him more than his experiences overseas. [node:read-more:link]
Effective immediately, the sale, transport, importation and use of some 1,500 types of “assault style” firearms are now prohibited in Canada. There will be a two-year amnesty for current owners to comply with the prohibition, and Prime Minister Trudeau says that “fair compensation” will be forthcoming. [node:read-more:link]
Protesting the “injustice and ineffectiveness” of the federal government's prohibition on civil ownership of “assault” rifles, an estimated crowd of 800 marchers descended on Parliament Hill 12 September even though most MPs had gone home to their ridings when the previous was prorogued. The event was coordinated by the Canadian Coalition for Firearm Rights. [node:read-more:link]
The latest report from the federal Commissioner of Firearms, for 2018, shows there was an increase of nearly 24 per cent in the number of restricted firearms registered in the first three years of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's administration. The total was 1.16 million compared with 978,347 in 2015 after tighter controls were signaled by the Liberals in that year’s election campaign. There also was a slight drop in the number of prohibited weapons registered nationally. [node:read-more:link]
A New York limit on carrying firearms in public is set to be tested in the U.S. Supreme Court. The court, now with a conservative majority, has refused several similar challenges since 2008 when it established individuals’ rights to keep guns at home for self-defence in the District of Columbia. [node:read-more:link]
Draft gun control legislation introduced Feb. 16 by the federal government as Bill C-21 would permit cities to tighten controls on handguns. However, a knowledgeable critic says that to be truly effective, the measure should be an outright federal ban. [node:read-more:link]
Two draft firearms control bills which would provide for expanded background checks on all commercial gun sales were passed today by the U.S. House of Representatives, each with marginal Republican support. It was the first significant development on the politically-divisive issue since the Democrats gained control of the White House and both chambers of Congress. [node:read-more:link]
Friends and family of 14 women killed in the 1989 École Polytechnique massacre in Montreal have accused Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of “abandoning” victims of gun violence with his government's proposed firearms control legislation. They want Bill C-21 rewritten because it does not include a mandatory buyback program for “assault-style” weapons the government prohibited l10 months ago. [node:read-more:link]
Ten persons, including a police officer, died in Boulder, Colorado, March 22 in yet another mass shooting. As was the case six days earlier when eight persons were killed in Atlanta, Georgia, the shooter, who was taken into custody, is believed to have acted alone. [node:read-more:link]
The latest annual RCMP report on Canadian firearms ownership, released by Public Safety Minister Bill Blair, shows that Yukon residents ranked highest at 19.2 licences per 100 residents. [node:read-more:link]
A New Brunswick man who killed two police officers and two civilians in Fredericton in August 2018 has been found not criminally responsible due to a mental disorder. The 11-member’s jury’s decision was reached after several days of deliberation. Matthew Raymond’s defence counsel has said the admitted shooter would be institutionalized indefinitely and subject to regular assessments. [node:read-more:link]
Taking up Prime Minister Trudeau’s election campaign promise to ban military-style “assault rifles,” a Montreal group is urging Public Safety Minister Bill Blair to make good on it. PolySeSouvient includes students and graduates of Ecole Polytechnique, where 14 women were shot in 1989. An aide to Blair says the minister appreciates the group’s support for Trudeau’s commitment. [node:read-more:link]
As the debate on gun control rages on in Canada and elsewhere, research as a basis for policy development requires solid data on when and where various laws have been put in place. The Rand Corp. think-tank in Washington has recently updated its searchable database of U.S. state-level laws. Having made its debut in 2018, it covers 17 classes of gun laws and many subcategories dating back to 1979. [node:read-more:link]
A Toronto emergency physician has rejected as impracticable the federal government’s proposal to empower municipalities to restrict handguns by working through the provincial governments and territories. Dr. Joel Lexchin said at a public event with Prime Minister Trudeau that it makes no sense for one city to impose a ban if others nearby do not.“The federal government needs to ... show leadership and do a national ban,” he said. [node:read-more:link]
