Image Credit: The Canadian Press

By Mel Rothenburger

ARMCHAIR MAYOR

ROTHENBURGER: Giving City councils control over handguns a very bad idea

Oct 2, 2019 | 6:12 AM

KAMLOOPS — JUSTIN TRUDEAU IS HALF RIGHT with his campaign promise on gun control.

The Liberal leader says, if re-elected, he’ll give municipalities the authority to ban handguns and will impose a nation-wide ban on so-called “assault rifles,” the best known of which is the AR-15.

A buy-back program would be part of the ban.

So far, so good. While mass shootings with semi-automatic weapons haven’t made their way to Canada with the frequency they occur in the U.S., both the Ecole Polytechnique and Quebec City mosque shootings were carried out with semi-automatics. Details of which rifles would be banned haven’t been worked out yet but there’s no need to wait for more mass shootings before taking action.

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Where he falls short is on handguns, which are the weapon of choice in firearms deaths. A debate around the council table at Kamloops City Hall on whether or not to ban handguns would be fascinating, but that’s not where the decision should be made.

It’s also doubtful whether the City would want the job of sorting out which handguns should be banned outright and which should be restricted.

As several mayors have already made clear, while they support Trudeau’s half-measure, that’s exactly what it is, a half-measure. It would leave some cities with a ban and others without.

And, presumably, provincial governments would have to allow cities to pass handgun bylaws, since municipal governments are considered the creation of the provinces. So, some provinces might give such permission, some not.

Jagmeet Singh, by the way, has promised a handgun ban, but the only problem with that is the NDP won’t be forming government.

In order to be effective, a handgun ban has to be universal. Trudeau’s plan would create one big mess.

I’m Mel Rothenburger, the Armchair Mayor.

Mel Rothenburger is a former mayor of Kamloops and newspaper editor. He publishes the ArmchairMayor.ca opinion website, and is a director on the Thompson-Nicola Regional District board. He can be reached at mrothenburger@armchairmayor.ca.

Editor’s Note: This opinion piece reflects the views of its author, and does not necessarily represent the views of CFJC Today or the Jim Pattison Broadcast Group.