A series of shootings this weekend plagued the city of Toronto. According to The Toronto Star, 17 people are injured after 14 separate shootings over the August long weekend. The increase in gun violence forced Toronto Police Chief Mark Saunders to make a plea for witnesses to come forward. The mayor is also expressing the need for a Toronto handgun ban. “This is not Toronto,” Chief Mark Saunders stated during a press conference at police headquarters on Monday. “And rest assured that I will be providing the resources where they need to be to solve these cases.” The shootings weren’t isolated to one particular area. Incidents of gun violence were reported from everywhere from popular nightclubs to Airbnb rentals in Toronto over the long weekend. View this post on Instagram A post shared by District 45 (@district45toronto) on Aug 5, 2019 at 9:37am PDT Saunders stated that police will be taking immediate action to reduce the recent surge in shootings. “I can tell you that we will be putting additional resources in specific places that we think will help deter and reduce the gun violence that’s occurring in the city,” he said. Mayor John Tory took to Twitter on Monday to call for a city-wide handgun ban. Tory expressed the importance of the initiative in a series of tweets over the weekend. The gun violence we have seen in recent days in our city is absolutely unacceptable. I know @TorontoPolice are working non-stop to find those responsible for these shootings and to bring them to justice.— John Tory (@JohnTory) August 5, 2019 I remain firmly of the belief that a handgun ban will help us address the gun violence we are experiencing in our city and the surrounding region.— John Tory (@JohnTory) August 5, 2019 I led City Council - joined by other major Canadian cities - in sending a clear message on the need for a ban on handguns, assault rifles and semi-automatic firearms.— John Tory (@JohnTory) August 5, 2019 This was always put forward as a part of the answer to gun violence together with changes to other laws affecting things like bail, additional support for police, and the paramount need for all three governments to invest together in kids, families and neighbourhoods.— John Tory (@JohnTory) August 5, 2019 All of these initiatives are much needed if we are to stop the spread of guns, help police crack down on illegal guns and those who have them, and address the root causes of gang and gun activity.— John Tory (@JohnTory) August 5, 2019 The mayor also encouraged witnesses to reach out to Crime Stoppers to help police catch those responsible. Tory made a similar call for a ban against firearms last year, though it is unclear if any concrete steps were taken. I urge anyone with information that could help investigators solve these shootings to call police or Crime Stoppers.— John Tory (@JohnTory) August 5, 2019 View this post on Instagram The gun violence we have seen in recent days in our city is absolutely unacceptable. I know Toronto Police are working non-stop to find those responsible for these shootings and to bring them to justice. I urge anyone with information that could help investigators solve these shootings to call police or Crime Stoppers. I remain firmly of the belief that a handgun ban will help us address the gun violence we are experiencing in our city and the surrounding region. I led City Council - joined by other major Canadian cities - in sending a clear message on the need for a ban on handguns, assault rifles and semi-automatic firearms. This was always put forward as a part of the answer to gun violence together with changes to other laws affecting things like bail, additional support for police, and the paramount need for all three governments to invest together in kids, families and neighbourhoods. All of these initiatives are much needed if we are to stop the spread of guns, help police crack down on illegal guns and those who have them, and address the root causes of gang and gun activity. A post shared by John Tory (@johntory) on Aug 5, 2019 at 1:04pm PDT A city staff report back in June revealed that Toronto, on its own, can do little to reduce the number of firearms in the city. The city would likely need to seek provincial help to begin the process of enforcing a more restrictive gun ban.
