TORONTO – An Ontario Liberal government will ban handguns across the province in its first year in office, Ontario Liberal Leader Steven Del Duca announced today in his party’s latest platform plank release.
“I’ve had it with Doug Ford’s open for business policy for guns.” Del Duca said, “The Ford Conservatives are putting the interests of the gun lobby ahead of the Ontario victims of gun crime they swore an oath to protect. The result is handgun violence is spiraling out of control. The choice on handguns is clear, more handguns and gun crime under the Ford Conservatives or a ban on handguns under the Ontario Liberals.”
An Ontario Liberal Government would do what Doug Ford won’t and ban the sale, possession, transport and storage of handguns. Our plan will also:
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Accept the federal government’s offer to fund a buy-back program;
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Partner with the federal government to stop gun smuggling at the Ontario-US borders;
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Advocate to extend the ban nationally so that guns can’t be funneled through inter-provincial borders.
Facts:
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The Ford Conservatives have blocked municipal and federal efforts to ban handguns in Ontario (Huffpost) (CBC)
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49 people have been killed or injured already this year in Toronto alone (TPS)
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Handgun homicides have been increasing year-over-year, and made up 61% of firearms related deaths in 2020 (StatsCan)
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Canada ranks 4th in firearm deaths among OECD countries (OurCommons)
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An increasing number of guns used for crime are sourced domestically (CBC)
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Half of Ontario guns deaths were from self harm (CTV)
Ford’s Conservatives have continued to refuse to take a stand against gun violence and voted against a similar bill proposed by Liberal MPP Mitzie Hunter. Ford himself confirmed he “wouldn’t support a ban on handguns” (Globe and Mail) and went back on promises to fast track MPP Hunter’s bill to add more health supports for victims of gun violence. The Ontario Liberal plan would also treat gun violence as a public health issue and fund trauma counseling for survivors and others affected by gun violence.
“The Ford Conservatives are 100% aligned with the gun lobby, aggressively opposing all efforts by municipal councils and the federal government to take guns off Ontario streets,” concluded Del Duca.
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