Conservative Chief Pierre Poilievre dodged questions Sunday about whether or not he would repeal the federal authorities’s handgun ban, a measure introduced in to tamp down on the diversion of authorized firearms into the fingers of unhealthy actors.
Poilievre hasn’t mentioned a lot throughout this marketing campaign about what he would do with the Liberal firearms legislation he voted towards whereas in Parliament, however he has blasted the final authorities’s “assault-style” firearm buyback program as a “gun seize” that he would scrap.
Gun management advocates say any laws to curb the move of firearms is a worthy measure to try to cut back incidents of crime and violence. Firearms rights advocates in the meantime say the Liberal suite of insurance policies solely punish lawful gun homeowners who play by the foundations.
In 2022, after a spate of violent gun crime and the Nova Scotia bloodbath, former prime minister Justin Trudeau’s cupboard launched a “freeze” on the sale, buy and switch of handguns. The ban was later codified in law with Bill C-21, the federal government’s controversial overhaul of firearms laws.
Requested Sunday what he would do in regards to the handgun ban particularly at a marketing campaign cease in Surrey, B.C., Poilievre mentioned most firearm-related crime is attributable to unlawful firearms arising from the U.S. and he questioned whether or not there’s even actually a handgun ban in place.
“Criminals are in a position to get handguns all over the place they go,” Poilievre mentioned. “The issue is prohibited weapons coming from the US of America.”
Poilievre pivoted to his proposal to lock up criminals for longer, together with these convicted of firearms offences. Poilievre is proposing life sentences for certain traffickers.
Talking in Surrey B.C., heading into the final week of the marketing campaign, Conservative Chief Pierre Poilievre dodged a reporter’s query about whether or not he would repeal the freeze on handgun gross sales in Canada launched by the Liberal authorities — as an alternative saying the issue is prohibited handguns crossing into Canada.
“The police have mentioned that the present Liberal insurance policies simply stop off-duty law enforcement officials and army veterans from practising their craft with out going after the criminals who precipitated the crime,” he mentioned.
Pressed by reporters if which means the handgun ban can be gone below a authorities led by him, Poilievre ignored the follow-up and moved on to the subsequent query.
Poilievre told a Quebec firearms advocate in January that any firearms ban is “silly” and he vowed to repeal C-21 — feedback he hasn’t made in public since then.
Liberal Chief Mark Carney has pounced on Poilievre’s imprecise statements about firearms.
On the English-language leaders’ debate final week, Carney mentioned Poilievre’s robust speak about tackling crime is meaningless if he does not comply with via with a dedication to rein in weapons.
“Each single time there was a vote within the Home of Commons on gun management, Mr. Poilievre has voted towards it. You’ll be able to’t be robust on crime until you are robust on weapons,” Carney mentioned.
PolySeSouvient, a gun management advocacy group, has endorsed the Liberals, saying Carney is one of the best chief to ship on its calls for to take away “assault-style” firearms from circulation, ban large-capacity magazines and comply with via with insurance policies to curb home violence.
One of many group’s founders, Nathalie Provost, is operating for the Liberals in Quebec.
“Saying no to U.S.-style gun legal guidelines in Canada — to maintain our households and communities safer from gun violence for many years to come back — begins on the poll field,” mentioned Heidi Rathjen, a spokesperson for the group that represents the survivors of the Polytechnique bloodbath.
Rathjen referred to as Poilievre a “gun extremist.”
Some police unions, nonetheless, have criticized the Liberal insurance policies as largely ineffective in stopping gun crime.
In an announcement final fall on the two-year anniversary of the ban turning into regulation, the Toronto Police Affiliation, the group that represents regulation enforcement members in that metropolis, mentioned Trudeau’s insurance policies had been bogus.
“No matter you suppose you’ve got finished to enhance neighborhood security has not labored,” the group mentioned.
The Surrey police affiliation mentioned the ban “fails to handle the true concern: the surge of unlawful firearms coming throughout our borders and ending up within the fingers of violent criminals.”
CBC Information reported in February that the move of weapons over the Canada-U.S. border is a serious concern with border data revealing there’s been a spike in confiscated guns in recent years.
In keeping with Toronto Police Service (TPS) information, the drive seized 717 crime weapons final yr and 88 per cent of these had been sourced to the U.S.
Of these firearms taken by police in Canada’s largest metropolis, 515 had been handguns and 91 per cent of these had been traced to the U.S., in accordance with the information.
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