New legislation aimed at handguns has been tabled in Canada by the Trudeau government after a series of mass shootings in the United States, including a school shooting that claimed the lives of 19 children and two adults in Uvalde, Texas.
The new measures are also being introduced as the Mass Casualty Commission continues to hear testimony in an inquiry about the 2020 mass shootings in Nova Scotia in a 13-hour rampage that began with a brutal act of domestic violence and ended with 22 people, including one RCMP Constable, dead.
According to the Liberals, the new Bill C-21 is introducing some of the strongest gun control measures in over four decades.
The proposed bill would see an immediate freeze on handguns, effectively capping the number of handguns in the country while preventing individuals from bringing newly acquired ones into Canada. Regulatory amendments have already been introduced to Parliament by Minister of Public Safety Marco Mendicino to ensure the freeze on handguns can come into force this fall.
Additionally, firearm licenses would be revoked for individuals involved in acts of domestic violence or criminal harassment. The maximum sentence for gun smuggling and trafficking would also be increased. Part of the legislation would see long-gun magazines permanently altered to hold a maximum of five rounds, as well as banning the sale and transfer of large-capacity magazines.
“People should be free to go to the supermarket, their school or their place of worship without fear. People should go to the park or to a birthday party without worrying what might happen from a stray bullet,” Trudeau said during a Monday press conference introducing the new legislation. “Gun violence is a complex problem, but at the end of the day, the math is really quite simple. The fewer guns in our community, the safer everyone will be.”
Advocates remain concerned about “red flag” laws
Bill C-21 would also work to mitigate intimate-partner violence, gender-based violence, and self-harm involving firearms through a new “red flag” law that would allow courts to require that individuals considered a risk to themselves or others surrender their firearms to police. That includes a $6.6 million investment to raise awareness of the new “red flag” law, and inform potential victims how to report.
However, in a May 16 letter on firearms control and violence against women, National Association of Women and the Law executive director Tiffany Butler referred to the “red flag” provisions as “a guaranteed route to increased fatality.”
The letter, issued to Mendicino and Minister for Women and Gender Equality and Youth Marci Ien, noted that “citizens or other organizations, much less potential victims, should not be expected to put themselves at risk by going to court to request action that should be immediate and within the direct responsibility of police.”
Butler also noted in the letter that the organization recommends a review of the Firearms Act every three years, given what she calls “uneven and often problematic enforcement of gun control laws to date.”
Action on gun control welcomed by vast majority of Canadians
For advocacy organization Canadian Doctors for Protection from Guns (CDPG), the move by the Government of Canada is a welcomed one based on evidence that will help reduce gun injury and death in the country.
“The two most recent mass shootings in the United States—targeting the black community in Buffalo and children in Uvalde—are yet another wake-up call for Canadians to not only remain vigilant in our commitment to firearm restrictions but to work to strengthen policies and address social determinants that will reduce gun injury and death,” CDPG co-founder Dr. Julie Maggi said in a news release.
While the move by the federal government is sure to be controversial, public opinion data shows Bill C-21 is supported by a majority of Canadians.
According to the Coalition for Gun Control, 67 per cent of Canadians support a ban on handguns, while nearly 90 per cent support stricter licensing requirements and background checks on prospective gun owners.
In a news release issued Monday, the Coalition for Gun Control called the new gun control legislation “game-changing,” coming after a 30 year fight from a group representing more than 200 organizations dedicated to reducing gun violence.
The release included comments from Karen Vanscoy, the mother of a 14-year-old girl named Jasmine. Jasmine was murdered by a 17-year-old acquaintance with a stolen gun.
“So much emphasis in recent years has been placed on gangs and guns. And while it may be true that smuggled guns are a big part of the problem, my life was destroyed by the pull of a trigger of a handgun that had been legally owned,” she said.
While the Liberal—NDP Supply and Confidence Agreement would suggest the governing party will receive the necessary support to pass gun control laws, NDP public safety critic Alistair MacGregor is calling out the Trudeau Liberals for acting opportunistically, referring to Bill C-21 as a “political stunt.”
“People want their government to act to prevent tragedies, not just respond to them. But, when horrible things happen, this Liberal government is quick to make big promises—then fail to deliver on solutions,” a Monday release from MacGregor reads, adding that “if the Liberals are finally serious this time, New Democrats are here to get this done.”
The introduction of Bill C-21 comes less than two weeks after new federal laws took effect across Canada that better regulate the sales and transfers of non-restricted firearms.
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