Proposal to ban handguns off target

Proposal to ban handguns off target
Toronto Mayor long on rhetoric, short on fact

The Ontario Federation of Anglers and Hunters (O.F.A.H.), representing 83,000 members and 655 member clubs across Ontario, condemns Toronto Mayor David Miller’s proposal to ban handguns because it flies in the face of hard evidence that bans don’t work and focus on the wrong target. His insistence on pursuing this optically enticing but factually challenged policy ignores the fact that handgun bans in several other jurisdictions has resulted in increased gun violence. His proposal also misses the point that the overwhelming majority of handguns used to commit crimes in Canada belong not to trained, licenced and law abiding firearms owners, but rather, are smuggled in from the United States or other countries.

“The Mayor is either ignoring or is blithely unaware of the fact that handguns are already subject to extremely onerous provisions, and except for a few legitimate purposes, have already been banned in Canada. He also conveniently ignores the fact that there has been a handgun registry in Canada since the mid-1930’s, which has failed to stop the proliferation of guns on our streets, because criminals don’t register guns and don’t acquire them in the normal manner. In fact, in 2005, only 4 of 129 homicides were committed with a registered firearm, and 6 of 108 in 2006,” said O.F.A.H. President Jack Hedman. “Mayor Miller is determined to ignore evidence from countries like England, Wales, Australia and Jamaica who have already gone down this road, and experienced firsthand that handgun bans do not reduce crime. In fact, twelve months after the Government of Australia introduced a new law which resulted in the destruction of almost 650,000 firearms, homicides, assaults and armed robberies involving guns increased dramatically, leaving Australian politicians at a loss to explain how public safety decreased after the implementing a costly ban.”

The O.F.A.H. believes that the approach being pursued by the federal government has a better chance of success in fighting crime. The recently passed Bill C-2, the Tackling Violent Crime Act, which was supported by both Mayor Miller and Premier McGuinty, addressed a number of crime related issues, and includes minimum mandatory sentences for serious firearms offences; bail hearings for offences involving firearms; and tougher mandatory jail time for serious gun crimes, particularly those that involve gangs and criminal organizations. The provision of funding to provinces to hire more police officers, the hiring of 1,000 additional RCMP officers and increased funding for border enforcement are tangible contributions to the fight against illegal guns and their use to commit crime.

“It defies belief as to why the Mayor of Toronto and other politicians try to score cheap political points with their constituents by pushing the idea of a firearms ban, when the idea has been tried in several other jurisdictions and failed. People who use handguns to commit crime use illegal firearms so banning them outright would be redundant. Guns, and lawful gun owners make a convenient target,” said Hedman. “Given that Toronto Police Chief Bill Blair admitted before the House of Commons Standing Committee on Justice that the vast majority of firearms seized by his officers have been smuggled across the border, and that Vancouver Police have previously noted that over 90% of the illegal firearms seized were smuggled in from south of the border, it is na