Toronto City Council responded to Sunday’s shooting by voting 41-4 in support of a city-wide ban on handguns and ammunition sales.
On July 22, 2018, Faisal Hussain opened fire in Toronto’s Greektown, killing two and wounding 13. CBS News reported that Toronto Mayor John Tory reacted to the shooting by saying, “Guns are too readily available to too many people.”
The National Post quoted Tory saying, “Why does anyone in this city need to have a gun at all? I know answering questions like this won’t fully eliminate tragedies like this, but even if we can prevent one of these incidents, then in my view it is a discussion worth having and having very soon.”
UK’s Independent reports that the Toronto City Council responded by voting 41-4 in support of a ban on handgun and ammunition sales. Their vote is meant to urge “the provincial and federal governments” to implement the ban.
Canada already has extremely stringent gun controls. So stringent, in fact, that the University of Sydney’s GunPolicy.org lists them as “restrictive,” which is the same descriptive they use for Australian gun controls.
In order to purchase a gun one must first acquire a firearm license, and that requires passing a background check which includes a consideration of “criminal, mental health, addiction and domestic violence records.” It also requires a “third party character reference,” and law enforcement interviews with the gun license applicant’s “spouse, partner, or next of kin.” And this is just to get a license to allow someone to buy a gun.
Canadian resident Mark George wrote:
I went through the three-day course [for a Firearm License] a few years ago. Generally, you have to reserve a spot in the course a few months in advance, as there are not very many courses running and they fill up quite quickly. When I took the course, it cost roughly a few hundred dollars. That fee does not include the fee to actually apply for your Firearms License, which is roughly another hundred something dollars.
After passing the course, which included both written and practical tests, I had to submit my application to the Chief Firearms Officer of Ontario. After he signs off, which for me took a month or so, my application moved over to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), where they proceeded to do an in depth background check, interviewing my mom and dad, and asking about previous girlfriends, spouses, and sexual partners. When I renewed my license last year, my wife had to sign it, stating that she was aware I was renewing my firearms license.
From start to finish my application took well over six months. Though I am now able to purchase certain firearms, Canadian law makes it quite clear that I am not to defend myself with any of them.
But Mayor Tory and the Toronto City Council believe more gun control is needed.
AWR Hawkins is an award-winning Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News, the host of the Breitbart podcast Bullets with AWR Hawkins, and the writer/curator of Down Range with AWR Hawkins, a weekly newsletter focused on all things Second Amendment, also for Breitbart News. He is the political analyst for Armed American Radio. Follow him on Twitter: @AWRHawkins. Reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart.com. Sign up to get Down Range at breitbart.com/downrange.
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