Canadian politicians said this would never happen. A murderer shot people on the street and then shot into crowded restaurants in Toronto, Canada. Thirteen people were wounded. An eighteen-year-old woman and a ten-year-old child were killed. The murderer had years of treatment for psychosis but was increasingly depressed and anxious.
Canadian gun laws, like the laws in the US, are mere ink on paper. Somehow, those magical words were supposed to stop a committed murderer. The murderer’s gun was traced back to a burglary that happened a few years ago. In theory, we were safe from violence because a dedicated murderer would never break Canadian gun laws. That theory failed again, but Canadian politicians called for more of the same.
Madmen intent on murder ignore the law. After every murder, politicians propose more gun laws as a distraction from their failed policies of gun control… and foolish Canadians fall for it time after time.
• The murderer had a long history of mental illness. He was being treated for depression and anxiety. Despite that troubling past, the murderer was not on the list of people prohibited from owning a firearm in Canada. Canadian gun control failed to stop the murderer, but might have disarmed the murderer’s victims.
• Canada requires honest citizens to obtain a license if they want to own a firearm. Those background checks and character references didn’t stop a criminal madman from getting a stolen gun.
• Canada requires honest citizens to register their firearms. The murderer didn’t register his stolen handgun. Did politicians and Canadian voters really think he would?
• Canada denies the right of armed self-defense to its citizens. The government told them they would be safer if they couldn’t shoot back. We can see how safe they really were.
• Innocent civilians cannot get a license to carry a concealed firearm. The murderer carried his gun in public anyway.
• Canada limits the number of cartridges that may be loaded into a handgun magazine. That isn’t much of a hindrance. The murderer had more than enough time to reload his gun because his victims were disarmed.
• Canadian law requires that your guns are securely locked and unloaded when they are transported in a vehicle. That meant that the victims could not run to their car and get a tool for their own defense. Safe storage laws insured their vulnerability rather than make the victims safer.
The killing continued until the police chased the murderer from the streets. When confronted by men with guns, the murderer ran into an alley and took his own life.
Gun control is a consistent failure. While homicide rates declining in the US, homicide increases in downtown Toronto. Eleven people were shot in the last week. Canadian politicians will propose more ink on paper as long as the lie of gun-control continues to work.
Image: CCO Creative Commons; https://pixabay.com/en/police-crime-scene-blue-light-850054/
