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Toronto Mayor: ‘Why Does Anyone In This City Need To Have A Gun?’

George Pimentel/WireImage

David Krayden Ottawa Bureau Chief
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In the wake of Sunday night’s mass shooting, Toronto Mayor John Tory asked Monday why anyone the city needs to own a gun at all.

“You’ve heard me ask the question of why anyone would need to buy 10 or 20 guns … and that led to another question we need to discuss: Why does anyone in this city need to have a gun at all?” Tory asked Toronto city council Monday afternoon.

The mayor asserted, “This city has a gun problem in that guns are far too readily available to far too many people.”

Tory did not specify whether the gun problem stemmed for legal or illegal ownership of guns. Sunday’s shooting was conducted with a handgun; police have not yet released information as to whether shooter Faisal Hussain legally owned the weapon.

Despite Canada having some of the more stringent gun laws in the world, with handguns listed as a “restricted” weapon, Tory insisted, “There are too many people carrying around guns. Our city and our region who should not have them.”

He promised to get even tougher with gun control, saying he was “reaching out to federal and provincial governments as they have reached out to us and urge them to sit down with us to discuss a range of public issues, including guns.”

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