Gun violence is not just a problem in the United States. Canada, a neighbor to the north, is also seeing an increase in the number of shootings. A few days after the Uvalde shootings in Texas, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced a nationwide freeze on handguns by the fall. But the project is far from unanimous.
With our correspondent in Montreal, Camille Feireisen
Marcel Wilson is disappointed and angry. For this former street gang member who became the founder of a movement whose mission is to prevent firearms, the Canadian government is missing its target with his bill to limit the number of handguns in circulation, banning their sale and buying back assault weapons.
Banning legal guns won’t change the problem of gun violence he says. In Canada, one in three homicides is firearm related. In the majority of cases, illegal weapons come from the United States, recalls Louis March, founder of the Zero Gun Violence movement. ” More than 80% of firearms used in criminal activities come from across the border. This law is more to counter domestic violence, suicides and feminicides », recalls Louis March.
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Sociologist Jooyoung Lee regrets a lack of vision. ” We must understand how these weapons cross the border “, maintains the academic at the microphone of RFI. While he welcomes the measure allowing law enforcement to seize weapons from people deemed to be at risk, he would have liked to see investments in the communities most affected by the shootings.
Often, they are also the most precarious, recalls Marcel Wilson. “ We need long-term investments in the affected communities. They hope that the bill will have a second part with more teeth to tackle this scourge by the root.
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