Ontario Liberals Promise To Ban Handguns If They Get Elected & Here’s Why
They'll ban them within their first year in office.
Ontario Liberal leader Steven Del Duca announcing they'd ban handguns in the province if elected.
The Ontario Liberal Party has promised to ban handguns in the province if elected in June and will work to get this done within its first year in office.
In an April 19 announcement, the party said it would accept the feds' offer to create a buy-back program and work with them to put an end to gun smuggling at Ontario-U.S. borders.
The Ontario Liberals also promised to advocate for implementing the ban across the country so that guns can't come through interprovincial borders.
"I've had it with Doug Ford's open for business policy for guns," Ontario Liberal Leader Steven Del Duca said.
"The result is handgun violence is spiraling out of control. The choice on handguns is clear, more handguns and gun crime under the Ford Conservatives or a ban on handguns under the Ontario Liberals."
Hannah Jensen, the junior press secretary for the Office of the Solicitor General, shared what the current government’s stance is on handguns.
“The statistics are clear, over 80 per cent of guns being used in crime are obtained using illegal means — including from across the border — and half of the gun-related deaths in Ontario are gang related,” Jensen told Narcity via email.
“That’s exactly why our government has invested a record $185 million to combat gang violence fueled by these smuggled guns. This included reversing the Del Duca—Wynne Liberals’ cut of millions per year in anti-gang intervention programs.”
Per Toronto Police Service's data for shootings and firearm discharges, which the party also cited, 56 people have been killed or injured from shootings or firearm discharges this year.
Ontario's NDP said after the Liberal Party's announcement that the party "neglected gun violence for 15 years" and said that the NDP has long been calling for a ban on handguns in the province.
The Ontario Liberals have made other promises ahead of the election, including raising the minimum wage rates to $16 an hour and requiring companies to indicate their salary range in job postings.
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