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GUN CONTROL. NOW OR NEVER You can help stem access to firearms and reduce the lethality of violence in three important ways. But time is short. We need your help now:Minister Bill Blair’s consultation on a ban on handguns and military assault weapons, officially ends November 10, 2018 . You can also write to his office at Bill.Blair@parl.gc.ca and Bill.Blair.A1@parl.gc.ca but it needs to be as soon as possible. We can help with briefs. Information about the call for submissions is on the NRA website and Blair’s office has indicated they welcome international submissions and have no restrictions to prevent them. For this reason, writing to his office is advisable.Please copy your interventions to us, (coalitionforguncontrol@)and as a minimum, to your member of parliament Next week we launch a new campaign in Toronto. triggerchange.ca. Please support our campaign to ban handguns and military assault weapons. Please sign our petition and distribute information to your networks. We have attached some ready made materials for you to distribute. But we must ask you to do it as soon as possible.The Senate is now considering Bill C-71 we need support further amendments to strengthen the law. Ask to appear Committee Clerk: secd@sen.parl.gc.ca . We can help with briefs but our priority is the handgun and assault weapon ban.The Problem: Guns increase the likelihood of deathWhile guns do not cause violence, easy access firearms fuels gang violence, domestic violence, suicide and undermines community safety. Consider the facts:Shootings are now the most common means of homicide, surpassing stabbing and beating. Handguns account for 58% of shooting homicides. In 2016, for the third consecutive year, there was an increase in both the number (223) and rate (0.61 per 100,000) of firearm-related homicides in Canada, the highest rate since 2005 . There are now nearly 1 million legally owned handguns in Canada. Many legal handguns are stolen, illegal sold, and diverted. More crime guns that are traced come from Canadian sources.Handguns and military assault weapons are not used for hunting, by farmers or indigenous people for legitimate purposes and US-style arming for “self- protection” is rising.The Supreme Court has said there is no US-style “right” to own guns in Canada Canada has the fourth highest rate of gun deaths among OECD countries and is one of few developed countries to have loosened its gun laws in past decades.The majority of Canadians support a stricter controls on licensing and gun sales, a ban on military assault weapons and a ban on handguns Stronger gun regulation will increase safety in both urban and rural Canada.Military weapons such as the AR-15 used in the Parkland Florida massacre are sold to Canadians. Legally owned guns have been used in the worst mass shootings in Canada including the Montreal massacre, the Vernon massacre, the Quebec Islamic Centre massacre. The worst domestic violence shootings in Canadian history was with a stolen handgun as was the Danforth shooting in Toronto.Firearms also figure prominently in the cycle of violence against women and when firearms are present, women and their children are more likely to die. Research on mass murderers point to “psychiatric disturbances and odd/reclusive and acting-out personality traits, a fascination with weapons and war. Firearms are also a threat in the hands of political extremists regardless of whether their hate is motivated by misogyny, homophobia, anti-semitism, islamophobia or racism. The risk factors for homicide and suicide are similar. Suicide attempts with firearms usually end in death.The evidence is clear – in industrialized countries where there are more guns, there are higher rates of firearms crime and gun-related deaths. A comparison of Canada, the UK, Australia and the US is instructive: While rates of homicide WITHOUT guns are comparable (although the US is slightly higher), rates of homicide WITH guns are dramatically different. The UK, a country which also has issues regarding income disparity, inequality, substance abuse and gangs had 27 gun murders in 2016. An important difference? It banned handguns after the Dunblane massacre in 1996. Discussions of banning handguns emerged after the Concordia University Shooting in 1994, during the 2004 election campaign and more recently. In 2004, there were about 350,000 restricted weapons. Now there are more than 1 million. Table 1: Comparison of homicides without firearms versus with firearms (per 100,000)Countries such as the UK, Australia and Japan have shown that strict gun control laws lead to dramatically lower gun homicide, crime and death rates. Even in Canada, where there are more guns there are higher rates of crime and death: in spite of the rhetoric about gun control being an urban or gang-related issue, rural rates are actually higher.Table 2: Victims of police-reported firearm-related violent crime2016, rate per?100,000?population.Ban Civilian Possession of Handguns and Military Assault WeaponsIn spite of the opposition by the gun lobby, the Government should also take action to ban handguns and assault weapons. This is supported by the cities of Toronto and Montreal. While restricted and prohibited weapons are supposed to be “restricted” and “prohibited” they have been allowed to proliferate, because of loopholes in the legislation and weak implementation. For the first time in 30 years traced crime guns (which have been tracked consistently over that time) show a dramatic increase in domestically sourced firearms. This has changed. Far more guns are recovered. Now 50% originate from domestic sources.Total Firearms SeizedCrime Guns SeizedCrime Guns SourcedUS Sourced Crime GunsDomestically Sourced Crime Guns%%#%200632718112067%6133%2014164456315214551%13749%2015220956610711944%15256%201621395161489948%10752%2017174072632818055%14845% We must counter the American-inspired myth that more guns will make use safer. As surreal as it may seem, a Parliamentary Committee convened to consider a Conservative motion on rural crime heard from witnesses suggesting that Canada should allow arming for self-protection lauding the example of Gerald Stanley who shot and killed Colton Boushie whom he thought was stealing from him. If arming for self-protection worked, the US would be the safest country in the world. With 11,005 gun murders in 2016 it is clearly not.With almost 1 million legally owned handguns will soon reach the tipping point. We need your help now to ban civilian possession of handguns and military assault weapons.guncontrol.caAppendix 1 - Bill C- 71, An Act to amend certain Acts and Regulations in relation to firearms has been referred to the Senate committee. C-71 introduces measures that fill important loopholes and further amendments strengthened the screening process but gaps remain that must be addressed. While there is currently a consultation to explore a potential ban on handguns and assault weapons, we are not confident that this will lead to action. Consequently, it is imperative that Bill C-71 address the gaps identified by police and public safety experts. The Bill does restore some measures that are important for public safety. For example, extending the period during which risk factors may be assessed beyond the five-year period is important. Reinstating the verification of licenses when firearms are purchased is an important measure to ensure that licenses are valid and will help improve public safety by ensuring that people who buy guns are appropriately licensed. Reinstating the authority of the RCMP to manage the classification of restricted and prohibited weapons is important as well but must be accompanied by a commitment to systematically review the current classifications given the gaps that have been exposed in recent tragedies.However there are at least two other important amendments needed to fill loopholes in the legislation that will improve public safety without creating unnecessary regulatory burdens on legitimate owners of firearms that are desperately needed. Prior to the election campaign, Prime Minister Trudeau himself decried the Conservative changes to the law. ? Filling the loopholes created by the Conservatives was an election promise. [Along with never restoring the registration of rifles and shotguns for fear of the gun lobby’s wrath.]1. Restore the 1977 controls on sales of unrestricted firearms - When the previous administration dismantled the long gun registry, they failed to reinstitute the 1977 requirement that gun dealers record firearm sales and make those records available to police when they need to trace guns. While C-71 does reintroduce the requirement for gun dealers to track sales, it does not restore the capacity to easily trace these guns. We are asking for a simple amendment to restore the 1977 language: Specifically the amendment should ADD from 1977 law 3) The business must produce the record and inventory for inspection at the request of any police officer or police constable or any other person authorized by regulations made pursuant to para 106.8(a) to enter any place where a business referred to in that paragraph is carried on; and d) mail a copy of the record and inventory relating to restricted weapons to the Commissioner or to any person authorized [...] to issue a permit to carry on the business in accordance with any request in writing made by the Commissioner or any such person2. Restore strict issuance of Authorizations to Transport (ATT) to pre-defined locations – Canada’s firearms legislation was designed to strictly control the proliferation of handguns and military assault weapons making them “restricted” or “prohibited”. However loopholes in the law and inadequate implementation have allowed legal ownership of these firearms to increase dramatically, more than doubling in the last decade. While some claim that they are “virtually banned”, there are now more than 1 million restricted and prohibited weapons in Canada. As we increase legal ownership of these guns, which are primarily used for recreational purposes and collecting, we increase the risk that they will be misused or diverted to illegal markets. Handguns and other restricted weapons are particularly dangerous because of their concealability and firepower and are subjected to additional controls. Handguns are not used for hunting nor are restricted weapons permits intended to allow farmers to protect their livestock or private property. While a ban on handguns would obviate the need for amendments to controls on restricted and prohibited firearms, it is not certain. So loopholes in C-71 must be addressed by the Senate. Along with strict licensing provisions, owners of restricted weapons used to have to have Authorizations to Transport (ATTs) that were very restrictive, defining the locations where the guns could be moved, typically the owner’s home and, for example, a specified shooting range. These provisions were relaxed to allow holders of restricted and prohibited weapon ATTs to transport their firearms to any gun club in the province where they reside which in practice means anywhere. Bill C-71 should be amended to restore strict issuance of Authorizations to Transport (ATT) to pre-defined locations consistent with the election promise to repeal C-42. Specifically:DELETE (1.1) In the case of an authorization to transport issued for a reason referred to in paragraph (1)(a) within the province where the holder of the authorization resides, the specified place must – except in the case of an authorization that is issued for a prohibited firearm referred to in subsection 12(9) – include all shooting clubs and shooting ranges that are approved under section 29 and that are located in that province.Professor Emeritus Tim Quigley, from the University of Saskatchewan wrote that requiring a judicial authorization, which will deter firearm tracing and is not required in the USA, was unnecessary. He notes that the law that “applies to regulated activities and differentiates those activities from unregulated activities insofar as constitutional protections are concerned. Since the enactment of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms in 1982, it has been the case, in general, that, in order to make a lawful search or seizure, the police require both reasonable and probable grounds that an offence has or is taking place and that evidence will be located in the place to be searched and they must undertake the search and seizure under the authority of a warrant issued by a judge. There are, however, important exceptions to these general requirements—and these exceptions occur in respect of regulated activities. For instance, the police may stop a motor vehicle without reasonable and probable grounds (indeed, without any grounds whatever so long as they stop the vehicle to check for driver impairment, a driver’s licence, vehicle registration, and insurance)…..The selling, possession, and use of firearms is—and must be—a highly regulated field…..The police ought to be able to inspect the records of a firearm seller without a warrant in order to ensure that the seller is following the legal requirements. If the seller is believed to have committed a criminal offence, then a warrant would be required. Unfortunately, Bill C-71 does not adopt this sensible, constitutional manner of balancing the public interest in seeing that dangerous instruments are being regulated vs. the privacy protection that all Canadians enjoy under section 8 of the Charter.”Indigenous People’s rights:There is a duty to consult with Indigenous People and respect their rights. The non-derogation clauses in Bill C-68 (1995) are key. However, restricted and prohibited weapons (handguns and military assault weapons) are not used for hunting. ................
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