In 2017, a young man entered a Quebec City mosque with a semi-automatic rifle and a pistol, killing six and injuring 19. In 1989, a gunman targeted women at Montreal’s École Polytechnique, killing 14 and wounding another 14. Photograph: Tim Krochak/APĪnd the 2020 Nova Scotia shooting joined a list of incidents proving that even Canada’s relatively tight restrictions haven’t shielded it entirely from the horrors of gun violence. Royal Canadian Mounted Police officers surround a suspect at a gas station in Enfield, Nova Scotia, on 19 April 2020 after Canada’s worst mass shooting. But compared to other democratic countries, there’s much more we could be doing to address gaps in the system,” said Ken Price, a gun control advocate whose daughter Samantha was injured in a 2018 mass shooting in Toronto that killed two and left 13 injured. “When you consider us next to the United States, which is so heavily armed that it’s almost unbelievable, we look pretty good. There are no comparable “open carry” laws in the country, gun owners must be licensed and all handguns and most semi-automatic weapons must be registered with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. Part of that is credited to a gun ownership regime that mandates extensive background checks and requires that guns be kept locked and unloaded. Canada still trails far behind its southern neighbour, both in gun ownership rates and firearms-related incidents. According to the 2018 Small Arms Survey, there are an estimated 34.7 firearms per 100 people. Trudeau’s actions prompted minimal debate and were met with relatively little political resistance – in stark contrast to the United States, where the latest mass shootings have once again highlighted the calcified nature of the gun control debate in a country unwilling or unable to confront firearms violence.īut experts and gun control advocates caution that Canada’s relatively strict laws do not fully shield it from violence of the kind that is rampant in the United States.Ī nation where hunting is common, Canada has one of the world’s highest per-capita gun ownership rates.
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