e-2097 (Firearms)

Petition to the House of Commons

• The private ownership of handguns and assault style rifles, at nearly 1 million weapons, represents a clear and present risk to the Citizens of Canada;
• Existing laws that restrict the use, storage and transportation of handguns, have still allowed many legal handguns to end up in the hands of violent criminals as a result of illegal sales, theft and diversion from law abiding owners and retailers;
• Canada has the fourth highest rate of gun deaths among OECD countries while other countries have shown that strict gun control laws lead to dramatically lower gun violence;
• Military assault weapons such as the AR-15 are sold to civilians in Canada;
• Handguns account for 58% of shooting homicides;
• Handguns and military weapons are not used legitimately for hunting or other purposes, by farmers or indigenous people;
• Victims and families of the mass shooting, which took place on Danforth Avenue in Toronto, on July 22, 2018, supports this action;
• The medical community, expressed through the Canadian Doctors for Protection from Guns, supports this action;
• Mayor John Tory of the City of Toronto, publicly supports this action; and
• A prior e-petition, put forward by Wendy Cukier of the Coalition for Gun Control, and Julie Dzerowicz, MP for Davenport, saw 20,099 signatures appear to support this action, which puts public safety first.