Toronto Police Association President: Handgun Ban Would Have ‘No Impact’ on Criminals

Toronto Police Association (TPA) president Mike McCormack says a proposed handgun ban in Canada would have “no impact” on criminals.

On July 27, 2018, Breitbart News reported that the Toronto City Council voted 41-4 in support of a city-wide ban on handguns and ammunition. The vote followed the July 22, 2018, attack in which Faisal Hussain opened fire in Toronto’s Greektown with a handgun, killing two and wounding 13.

On August 20, 2018, Breitbart News reported that the Montreal City Council was urging a nationwide ban on handgun ownership.

CTVNews quoted Montreal city councilman Alex Norris saying, “Right now, it is legal to possess handguns and assault rifles that can do enormous harm to members of the public and we’ve seen far too many instances in which innocent people have been killed.”

According to CBC, the Toronto Police Association’s McCormack countered the drive for a handgun ban, saying, “There’s no way in my world or any world I know that this would have an impact on somebody who’s going to go out and buy an illegal gun and use it to kill another person or shoot another person.”

McCormack suggested a handgun ban “really has no impact on the psyche of a gunman.” He said such a ban is “a notional gesture at best.”

The experiment of gun control in Chicago adds credence to McCormack’s position. For example, Chicago completely banned handgun ownership in 1982 and that ban stayed in place until 2010. During that time frame Chicago’s homicide levels were even higher than they are now.

As Breitbart News reported, the Chicago Police Department reports there were 850 homicides during 1993. That is nearly 100 more homicides in 1993 than CNN’s figure of 762 homicides in 2016. Moreover, the Chicago Police Department shows there were 930 homicides in 1994; 921 homicides in 1991; and a startling 940 homicides in 1992.

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.