Are Tougher Gun Controls the Answer to Gun Violence?

It's a qualified "maybe" at best.

Gun violence is out of control in the Greater Toronto Area, but are gun controls an effective tool to curb gun violence?

The response is somewhat predictable depending on who you ask.
 
Rod Giltaca is CEO and Executive Director of the Canadian Coalition for Firearm Rights. He says guns per se aren’t the problem.

“There’s a growing crime problem and the result of the crime problem is violence,” says Giltaca. He suggests all levels of governments are reluctant to tackle that violence head on. “It just seems a lot more convenient to go after the people who are following the rules and take their guns.”
 
Ken Price brings a very personal and specific perspective when it comes to gun control and gun violence. His daughter Samantha was among the wounded the night of the Danforth shooting in Toronto. That moment flipped the switch for him turning his concern to advocacy for tougher gun restrictions.

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“Now it’s happened to us,” says Price. “And I think you have a choice to make as to how you want to respond and whether or not you can feel like you can make a difference. And for a lot of us, that’s what we’re trying to do – get involved in the discussion.”

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This debate essentially comes down to an argument over criminality. Gun control advocates will tell you that tougher restrictions will reduce criminal behaviour. The Gun lobby will say tougher laws will only redefine law abiding citizens as criminals.
 
Mark Twohey, Editor in Chief of SUN News and a Canadian military vet. He’s not opposed to gun controls or regulations but he says they need to make sense.
 
“Who obeys the law? Criminals don’t. It’s already illegal to murder somebody. It’s already illegal to shoot at somebody. It’s already illegal to run around with a gun in your pocket.”

But Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau says the current laws are not enough. At a campaign stop in Toronto, he laid out his plan “to end gun violence.” Trudeau says a re-elected Liberal government “will ban military style assault rifles and start a buyback program for all military grade weapons that were legally purchased. We will work with provinces and territories to enable municipalities to restrict handguns.”

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For the record. There is no definition of a military grade weapon that can be legally owned in Canada and handguns are already restricted firearms under federal laws.
 
Toronto Mayor John Tory has been a leading voice among municipal leaders calling for tougher gun restrictions. “Gun control is going to be a good start because a big part of the problem is the easy availability of guns so it means tightening up the border; it means, I believe, tougher gun laws, including a handgun ban.”
 
It’s worth noting that mayors from municipalities across the country want the feds to initiate a national ban on handguns – thereby avoiding any gaps in the system. Trudeau won’t go that far.

Ken Price agrees with the mayors. “Why does anyone need a handgun?” he asks. “I feel like the voices that are coming through that are defending the so-called law abiding gun owners aren’t necessarily reflecting the opinion of those law abiding gun owners.”
 
Rod Giltaca admits there are various voices among the gun lobby and says it’s time for “a real mature, honest conversation” about practical, effective firearm laws and regulations. He would welcome a Munk-style debate on the matter but says he can’t find any takers.

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But would a debate over gun controls and ownership get at the heart of the matter? Would it make any difference in helping to curb gun violence?

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Investigators and law enforcement officials will tell you that the majority of guns on the street have been smuggled from the US. Turk was a teenaged drug dealer in Toronto who needed a gun to do business. “My first gun, I bought for 1500 dollars,” he says. And it was pretty easy to find a supplier. “There’s a bunch of gun guys. There’s gun guys all over the city. That’s how they come in.”
 
And it’s those illegal guns that are being used in rising number of gang related shootings we’ve seen in the GTA…including a recent shootout at a Mississauga park. Police say there were as many as seven shooters involved and as many as 100 rounds fired. Witnesses say the shooting went on for 10 or 12 minutes. A 17-year-old boy was killed.

Smuggled and illegal guns are one thing but Mayor Tory says there’s a real gap in the judicial and bail system that needs to be urgently addressed. “The police still tell me there are many, many instances in which people are arrested on one day and even sometimes the same day can be found back out on the street.” It’s an ongoing frustration for the mayor and it’s proving fatal in some neighbourhoods. “These are people who’ve had multiple firearms charges overtime. And I think that’s clearly not helping us to deal with gun violence, to say the least.”
 
As it stands, there’s no mechanism to keep track of the illegal guns or the gun offenders. No one keeps that information.
 
So, do tougher gun controls effectively curb gun violence? The answer would appear to be a qualified MAYBE, at best. Most of the street gang shootings involve illegal weapons.
 
But it is worth noting that a review of 29 mass shooting in Canada between 1967 and 2017 involved the use of guns that can be legally acquired in this country. That includes the semi-automatic rifles used in the Dawson College shooting, in the Montreal Massacre, and the Danforth shooting. With the proper paperwork and application, you can purchase these guns through retailers and online in Canada.

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