Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau refused to say directly Monday whether his government would mandate a total handgun ban in Toronto.
As CBC News reports, Trudeau was asked about the ban at a scrum following a funeral for one of the victims of recent Toronto shooting. Trudeau responded in very general terms, stating that “people need to be safe, and we need to take the right measures to do that.”
The prime minister suggested the answers might be found in the responses of other countries: “We’re looking at things that have been done around the world — things that have been done in other jurisdictions, looking at the best evidence, the best data, to make the right decisions to make sure that we are ensuring our citizens, our communities are safe into the future.”
The Toronto mayor and city council have asked the Trudeau government to ban handguns and the sale of ammunition in their municipal jurisdiction. When asked about that request, Trudeau said, “We’re looking at a broad range of things. We’re going to make the right decision for the long term, not just the short term.”
(RELATED: Why Does Anyone In This City Need To Have A Gun?)
But Nicolas Johnson, editor of The Gun Blog, told The Daily Caller in an email Tuesday that Trudeau is missing the point:
A heckler interrupted Trudeau’s remarks at the funeral, calling the prime minister’s presence at the event “disingenuous” and demanding he leave. Trudeau suggested the funeral showed how “optimistic” Toronto youth were.
“If there was one lesson I learned and was reinforced for me this morning … it was that so many young people like her are both optimistic and realistic. Optimistic, knowing that the world can be and will be a better place, but realistic, knowing that young people need to roll up their sleeves and get involved and be part of shaping that better world.”
