Canadian PM Justin Trudeau spoke to reporters in Windsor, Ontario, on Friday promising gun control held the key to “Canada moving forward.”
The Cable Public Affairs Channel (CPAC.CA) broadcast Trudeau’s comments in which he framed the discussion by asking, “Do we move Canada forward or do we take Canada back?”
Trudeau made clear his commitment to preserving gun control then criticized his election opponent, Conservative Leader Erin O’Toole, and intimated gun control would be endangered if O’Toole were elected.
For example, Trudeau described firearms classified as “assault weapons,” claiming those firearms “are designed to kill the largest number of people in the shortest amount of time.” He then suggested O’Toole wants to repeal Canada’s “assault weapons” ban and claimed such a repeal “makes no sense.”
CBC/Radio Canada notes O’Toole plans to keep the ban in place, but wants to review the Canadian system classifying firearms in certain categories.
On Monday O’Toole told reporters the review of the classification system would be “carried out by gun users, gun manufacturers, law enforcement and members of the public.”
The U.S. had an “assault weapons” ban from 1994-2004, and the Department of Justice’s National Institute of Justice released a report noting the ban could not be credited with any reduction in crime.
The report was released as the ban was about to expire. The Washington Times quoted University of Pennsylvania professor Christopher Koper, author of the NIJ report, saying, “We cannot clearly credit the ban with any of the nation’s recent drop in gun violence. And, indeed, there has been no discernible reduction in the lethality and injuriousness of gun violence.”
The New York Times marked the 20th anniversary of the signing of the U.S. “assault weapons” ban by noting the very term “assault weapon” is one the “Democrats created” in the 1990s in order to classify, then ban, an entire sector of firearms.
According to the NYT, America was “suffering from a spike in gun crime…in the early 1990s” and “Democrats created and banned [an entire] category of guns.”
AWR Hawkins is an award-winning Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News 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 Instagram: @awr_hawkins. Reach him at awrhawkins@breitbart.com. You can sign up to get Down Range at breitbart.com/downrange.
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