Toronto’s police union boss is dismissing a city handgun ban as a way of addressing the escalating crime and homicides in the city.
As the Toronto Sun reports, Toronto Police Association President Mike McCormack broke his silence on the proposed ban Monday, saying, “A handgun ban would fail to stop Toronto’s violence and murders. I would support anything that would have an impact, but a ban wouldn’t get to the core of the issue. A municipal government banning handguns will have zero impact.”
Toronto Mayor John Tory disagreed with the police force president and continued to demand a total handgun ban in the city — something that the Trudeau government is considering for the whole country.
Tory repeated his oft-repeated line, questioning why people even seek handgun ownership in his city.
“I don’t know why anyone would need a handgun in Toronto. If we can take one gun out of one hand, we can save one life,” Tory insisted.
Tory’s view may reflect a majority of Canadians. According to a Nanos Research poll conducted for CTV News and released Monday, 48 percent of those surveyed supported a nationwide handgun ban while an additional 19 percent were inclined to support it. Johnson countered that “if you care about effective policy on highly complex and technical subjects, you ask experts.”
McCormack might agree, telling the Sun you can’t just wish handguns out of the hands of criminals.
“What we need is to get officers on the streets to get the intel we need. We need to look at the demographics of where the problems are coming from to get away from this gang culture,” McCormack said.
“In short, there needs to be a rigorous increase in policing to target youth. To get them out of the culture you have to offer them an alternative. We need a huge police commitment and an intel commitment to stop the bloodshed. We have to get the message out that you won’t get away with carrying a handgun in this city.”
