In the run-up to the federal election, our columnists will go head to head in a series of Pro/Con debates on key campaign issues. This week, three writers ponder whether the Liberal party’s proposed ban on handguns will be effective in stemming the tide of violent crime that plagued our city in 2005.
Pick up Monday’s Varsity for a look at whether the Liberal’s voluntary reduction plan will be enough to meet the Kyoto emissions guidelines.
The Liberal plan to ban all handguns is a politically expedient reaction to Toronto’s recent crime wave, which plays on the anger and fear of a hysterical public to serve the needs of a heated election campaign. The ban will probably be passed in as much haste as it was proposed, but is unlikely to significantly reduce the actual number of guns on the streets. Worse yet, the ban will add to the perception that the guns alone, and not the criminals wielding them, are responsible for Toronto’s increasing rate of violent crime.
Handgun laws in Ontario are already so strict that it is almost inconceivable that weapons used in violent crime are obtained legally, or that anyone who bothered to fulfill the numerous regulations regarding ownership, storage, and transportation of their guns would pose any threat to the rest of us. I do not oppose the ban on handguns because I believe all citizens have an innate right to possess such weapons-they do not. I oppose it because sweeping laws, passed during periods of intense social outrage and a particularly intense election season, are invariably the worst kinds of laws: the kind that grant the illusion of safety without delivering the real thing.
-Sean Kirby
I support gun control legislation. Not only does gun control do the obvious (control access to guns), but more importantly, it prevents Canada from developing an American-style “gun culture” that could lead to far worse problems than what we face today.
While we should obviously applaud the proposed Liberal legislation promising tighter control on handguns, we must remember that nearly all firearm offences are committed with unregistered weapons that are obtained illegally. It follows, therefore, that tougher restrictions must be coupled with a new strategy to reduce the number of illegal guns on our streets.
Many in law enforcement believe that the guns coming in from U.S. are being given to Canadian criminal entrepreneurs in exchange for shipments of marijuana. Canada grows far more marijuana than we can consume domestically and prices are also quite low-hence the booming cross-border trade. If we were to fully legalize marijuana and regulate it in a manner similar to alcohol or tobacco, more marijuana would be sold within Canada, leaving us with less of a surplus to be traded for illegal firearms. While the legalization of cannabis clearly will not solve our gun problem, it would definitely reduce the number of guns coming into this country through cross-border smuggling.
-Sam Rahimi
Recently, I saw a United Way ad that struck a chord with me, as I’m sure it might have with other Torontonians who are determined to reclaim this beautiful city from the grip of cold-blooded killers. The ad shows a youth happily playing baseball in a sunny diamond and striking the bat against the ball with all he’s got. Then the scene shifts to midnight in a seedy street corner; that same youth is swinging the bat, only this time he’s using it to break into a car.
The ad sends a resounding message to the politicians arguing for a handgun ban to reduce gun crimes: the ban alone won’t be enough. I for one am willing to pay more taxes if it’ll ensure that youths in troubled neighbourhoods are provided with meaningful after-school activities such as sports and non-violent conflict resolution programs. Without such programs to keep them occupied, teach them to cooperate with others, provide them with a mentor and a coach, and raise their self-esteem, these youths will turn to gangs as the only future they see for themselves.
All citizens, especially our politicians, should never again make the mistake of taking Toronto for granted, the apathetic mindset that prevented concrete action before Jane Creba’s tragic death.
-Ilham Alam
