An anti-gun group has called on the Trudeau government to fulfill the Liberal election promise to impose a ban on handgun and “assault rifle” sales.
The group, PolySeSouvient, sent a letter to the newly appointed Minister of Public Safety Bill Blair urging him to deliver on the campaign promise.
Leading up to the election, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau stated that his government would implement the toughest gun laws ever and give municipalities the power to legislate handgun bans.
“Liberals will bring in the toughest gun control laws that Canada has ever had,” said Trudeau during a campaign stop in Mississauga.
Earlier this summer, in his role as Minister of Border Security, Blair ordered his department to study ways the government could ban rifles and other weapons for legal gun owners.
The department report found that Canadians were deeply divided on the issue.
“Overall, participants were strongly polarized on the issue of banning handguns and assault-style firearms,” the report stated.
The Liberals have struggled to provide a definition of “assault-style weapons” and have claimed they plan on banning guns that are “designed to hunt people.”
“There is no option that will be discounted and all possibilities will be considered,” said Blair.
True North reached out to Minister Blair for comment but had not heard back by the time the article was written.
Earlier this year, the chair of the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police, Adam Palmer, contradicted the idea that a handgun ban for law-abiding citizens would be effective in curbing gun violence.
“In every single case there are already offences for that. They’re already breaking the law and the criminal law in Canada addresses all of those circumstances,” said Palmer.
“The firearms laws in Canada are actually very good right now. They’re very strict.”Prior to the election, the Liberals indicated that they were considering using an order-in-council to bypass a House of Commons vote and implement a crackdown on legal gun owners.
