The leader of the Ontario Liberals said the party would ban handguns in Ontario within a year if they win the June election..“.We don’t want to hear any more stories about people here in Scarborough, or elsewhere in this province, who have lost their lives or loved ones because the Ford Conservatives chose to stand with the gun lobby,”.said Ontario Liberal Party Leader Steven Del Duca..Speaking on Tuesday in front of a podium with a sign that read “We Will Ban Handguns,” Del Duca said gun violence in Ontario is an issue that “literally is plaguing our day-to-day lives” and “spiraling out of control.”.“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,” he said..Ontario Premier Doug Ford repeatedly spoke out against the federal government’s efforts to introduce a handgun ban and gun buy-back program, instead saying the millions planned for the buyback program should go towards increasing border security to stop guns from being illegally smuggled into Canada..“The problem is not the legal gun owners. We need to target the smugglers, and we need to throw the book at these gangsters out there terrorizing our streets,” Ford said in May 2020..Del Duca said an Ontario Liberal government would work closely with all municipalities, including Toronto City Council, and with the federal government to “tackle this issue head on.”.A Liberal government would also partner with the federal government to stop gun smuggling at the Canada-U.S. border, push for the handgun ban to be extended nationally, and accept the federal government’s offer to fund a buy-back program for firearms..Del Duca said no province has “stepped forward” to access the Liberal government’s proposed funding for a firearm buyback program, and he believes Ontario should “lead in that regard.”.“We’ll develop this process in partnership with law enforcement and the federal government, so that we might have a program in place that would provide financial compensation for them turning in their legal handguns,” Del Duca said..When asked by a reporter why the focus was on legal handguns when statistics showed the majority of crime comes from illegal firearms smuggled across the border, Del Duca replied that he wasn’t “here to trade statistics.”.“I’m here today to tell you that the choice is crystal clear. I along with our team will move heaven and earth to stop the escalating tragedies that we’ve seen with respect to gun violence in this province,” he said..Matthew Horwood is the Parliamentary Bureau Chief of the Western Standard.mhorwood@westernstandard.news.Twitter.com/@Matt_HorwoodWS
The leader of the Ontario Liberals said the party would ban handguns in Ontario within a year if they win the June election..“.We don’t want to hear any more stories about people here in Scarborough, or elsewhere in this province, who have lost their lives or loved ones because the Ford Conservatives chose to stand with the gun lobby,”.said Ontario Liberal Party Leader Steven Del Duca..Speaking on Tuesday in front of a podium with a sign that read “We Will Ban Handguns,” Del Duca said gun violence in Ontario is an issue that “literally is plaguing our day-to-day lives” and “spiraling out of control.”.“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,” he said..Ontario Premier Doug Ford repeatedly spoke out against the federal government’s efforts to introduce a handgun ban and gun buy-back program, instead saying the millions planned for the buyback program should go towards increasing border security to stop guns from being illegally smuggled into Canada..“The problem is not the legal gun owners. We need to target the smugglers, and we need to throw the book at these gangsters out there terrorizing our streets,” Ford said in May 2020..Del Duca said an Ontario Liberal government would work closely with all municipalities, including Toronto City Council, and with the federal government to “tackle this issue head on.”.A Liberal government would also partner with the federal government to stop gun smuggling at the Canada-U.S. border, push for the handgun ban to be extended nationally, and accept the federal government’s offer to fund a buy-back program for firearms..Del Duca said no province has “stepped forward” to access the Liberal government’s proposed funding for a firearm buyback program, and he believes Ontario should “lead in that regard.”.“We’ll develop this process in partnership with law enforcement and the federal government, so that we might have a program in place that would provide financial compensation for them turning in their legal handguns,” Del Duca said..When asked by a reporter why the focus was on legal handguns when statistics showed the majority of crime comes from illegal firearms smuggled across the border, Del Duca replied that he wasn’t “here to trade statistics.”.“I’m here today to tell you that the choice is crystal clear. I along with our team will move heaven and earth to stop the escalating tragedies that we’ve seen with respect to gun violence in this province,” he said..Matthew Horwood is the Parliamentary Bureau Chief of the Western Standard.mhorwood@westernstandard.news.Twitter.com/@Matt_HorwoodWS
