Posted on 12/08/2005 7:25:55 AM PST by NapkinUser
Prime Minister Paul Martin is set to propose what Liberals are billing as a "total ban" on handguns today, in an election-campaign bid to show his party talking tough on gun crime, especially in Toronto.
Liberal sources say that the proposed ban, to be announced by Martin today in Toronto, will be sweeping — only police and select security officers would be allowed to carry handguns.
More money, on top of the $1.9 million announced in November, will also be promised for community policing in areas afflicted by gun violence, the sources said.
Less than a month ago, Martin stood at the side of Toronto Mayor David Miller in the Jane and Finch area and declared: "We're going to take handguns out of our communities."
Since then, a government plan to crack down on gun crime has now become a policy plank in the Liberal campaign platform for the Jan. 23 vote.
Of the 75 homicides in Toronto this year, 50 have been committed with handguns. Police estimate half have been committed with handguns illegally smuggled into Canada, and a good portion of the others were committed with stolen weapons.
Gun-control advocates have said that any clampdown on handguns, then, must also deal with border-tightening measures and gun theft, not simply extended bans. With Martin heading to the border city of Windsor tomorrow, where crimes involving firearms are also a major concern, it's largely expected that his anti-gun platform will contain some measures to address the smuggling problem as well.
Handguns are already largely prohibited in Canada, in the wake of a law that came into effect in 1998, banning all .22- and .32-calibre handguns with a barrel length less than 105 millimetres. But there were big exceptions — collectors, sports shooters and many previous owners were allowed to hang on to their handguns. There are currently estimated to be about 300,000 weapons in Canada.
Liberal sources were not releasing details of the proposed ban, but it is clearly aimed at locking support in urban areas such as Toronto where the party is already ahead of the Conservatives and New Democrats.
What it does to the Liberals' hopes in more rural areas or the West however, where gun control is more controversial, remains to be seen.
In terms of a "total ban," as it's billed, the tighter handgun controls could include:
Even greater restrictions on who is allowed to own handguns, with fewer exceptions.
A ban on the sale of handguns, as Ontario Attorney General Michael Bryant has been discussing.
An extension of measures to encompass even more weapons under the ban.
Conservatives have not unveiled their own gun-crime platform yet in this campaign, but it's not expected to include any ban. Instead, Tory sources have told the Star's Sean Gordon that the party will focus on stiffer mandatory sentences, consecutive sentencing for offenders and new laws to cover the use of firearms in other offences.
The NDP is expected to focus on border-control measures in its platform and better ways of getting at the root causes of gang and gun crime in communities.
Meanwhile, in interviews yesterday in Montreal, Martin attacked Bloc Québécois Leader Gilles Duceppe, saying he was trying to keep Parliament from functioning.
"Why does he want to elect more MPs if it is not to lead to separation?" Martin asked, in an interview with the Radio-Canada radio program Sans Frontières. "Their key goal is that Parliament doesn't function." He said that it was "really rare" that the Bloc supported the government.
Interviewer Jean Dussault pointed out the Liberals had passed same-sex marriage legislation with the support of the Bloc.
"It's pretty rare," Martin insisted. "Except for certain cases, they have done everything they can to prevent Parliament from functioning."
According to Dominique Comtois of the Bloc Québécois, the parliamentary voting statistics are quite different.
"If you include all the votes — committee votes, motions and votes in the House, the Bloc voted with the government 86 times," he said. "It voted with the Conservatives 80 times, and both parties voted against it 62 times."
Martin was asked about New Brunswick Premier Bernard Lord's comment that Martin was like a "pyromaniac" who was setting the unity fire and then asking to be the one to put it out.
Martin retorted: "He's a partisan Conservative and he's a big supporter of Stephen Harper."
Martin said the primary responsibility of a Prime Minister was to fight for the unity of the country. "I am going to do that," he said. "I am going to do it in Quebec, I'm going to do it where anybody would challenge the unity of this country. And nobody, not Bernard Lord or Gilles Duceppe, is going to stop me."
Well for this to go through, Paul Martin would have to still be Prime Minister. And considering this is a meaningless grandstanding gesture, I doubt he will the Queen's First Minister past January 24th.
So those illegal guns will now become even more illegal? Yeah, that'll work. LOL.
Liberals aren't really that dumb, they know criminals will aways get the guns they need to carry on their trade. The libs just don't want ordinary lawful citizens to have guns, it's much easier to control what they see as the ignorant masses if the masses are unarmed and helpless.
Which is why I quit going to Canada to hunt bear and fish starting in 1999. Also sold my Para Ordinance wide body .45 and wouldn't buy any other Para........
I've been to Toronto a year and a half ago and this is nothing but panicking by the Canadian government. Toronto's 75 homicides pales in comparison to Los Angeles or Chicago's homicides, which usually averages over 500 a year. Toronto is a nice city and the people were friendly.
Of course "total ban" doesn't mean the sturmtruppen
Nope -- funny how it never does.
They are so stupid they don't see that their own statistics put the lie to gun control as a solution. If banning guns worked, there would be no smuggling or stealing of firearms. How is banning handguns completely going to stop smuggling or the stealing of guns? Dumbasses and not just the politicians, but the mindless mob that believes this sh**
Didnt the Canadians dump 2 Billion dollars in gun control?
Thats Billion with a B right?/
Pit urban against rural, black against white, French against English, Metric against Imperial, Alberta against Newfoundland, gays against Christians, Canadians against Americans, Europeans against Americans, Chinese against Americans, Muslims against Americans, Cubans against Americans, Russians against Americans, global warming against Americans, blah, blah, blah.
It is what Liberal Canadians do.
Many Canadians demand it and will vote for it every time.
So far dividing and then winning "key" Canadian voters has turned Ottawa into a big Liberal money machine.
Question for all freedom-loving Canadians: If the handgun ban passes, are you going to turn yours in?
No, states 49 & 50. We should trade MY and MA to Canada. They all think just like Canadians do.
Canuckistan is becomming the worlds largest liberal petri dish.
Best answer: "Why, I don't have a handgun to turn in. Oh, you have me on record as having one? It was eaten by an alligator."
This is a popular idea in Toronto, and Southern Ontario. There have been a rash of gun crimes and murders among the black community there. Southern Ontario is where a critical portion of Canadian voters come from, and they have a marked taste for quick fix solutions. Outside of there, its probably interesting to about 30-35% of the population like anywhere.
Most Canadians know squat about handguns, and like people everywhere, most don't really have the ability to think logically. Thus the fact that a ban on handguns will likely do little, if anything, to stop gun crime, will appeal to them. Same thing with the gun registry - everyone knows it does nothing to stop gun crime, and yet it still has widespread support.
Of the 75 homicides in Toronto this year, 50 have been committed with handguns. Police estimate half have been committed with handguns illegally smuggled into Canada…
Wonder how many policemen will quit when they're told they can't have a gun?
WHOSE GOING TO PROTECT US FROM THE PROTECTORS?
WHOSE GOING TO PROTECT US FROM THE PROTECTORS?
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