numbers as close to Zero as possible.
With that being said, these numbers
have still managed to make Canada one
of the safest countries on planet Earth.
In fact, the Global Peace index lists us
as the 6" safest country in the world.
Homicide in general and gun deaths, in
particular, are a near non-factor for the
more than 37 million people in Canada.
According to RCMP data, there
are 2.2 million gun licensees

  
 
 
  

in Canada; even if the assumption is that
every single person who committed a
murder using a gun was a different legal
gun owner, it would still be less than one
percent of Canada's total gun owners
who committed a crime. But the reality is
that most if not all of our gun murders are
gang-related and that the vast majority

of gun owners do not commit crimes at
all. A 2018 report commissioned by the

Canadian government entitled A dialogue
on Handguns and Assault Weapons
found that: “The vast majority of owners
of handguns and of other firearms in
Canada lawfully abide by requirements,
and most gun crimes are not committed
with legally-owned firearms.”

Although there has been an 81
percent increase in gun-related crimes
between 2009 and

2019, no evidence has
been provided showing
that law-abiding gun

owners are the cause.
Crucially, CBC
notes that these
gun crimes can
include “not just
discharging a

firearm, but also pointing it—for
example, as part of a bank robbery.”
Given that an imitation gun bought

on Amazon, spray-painted black, and
pointed at a 7-11 clerk's head would
count towards our total gun violence
statistics make these numbers dubious
at best. Add the fact that a 2017 study
included paintball, airsoft, and pellet gun
injuries to achieve the headline that “1

child or youth is injured every day by
firearms in Ontario,” it makes it easy to
say that skepticism is warranted.

| suspect that what drove O’Toole’s
response was the fear of looking like an
extremist to the Canadian voting public.
It seems that the lane he has aimed to
fill is the moderate who has abandoned
the worst parts of the conservative
movement without becoming fully liberal:
the true centrist. As guns are largely
seen as a right-wing issue, it is probably
prudent for him to not fully embrace
what many Canadians seem to dislike;
at least if he wants to squeeze out every
last suburban vote he can. Good politics
that that might be, it still makes him look
either uncertain or at worst conniving on
the matter.

If anything, the problem becomes
that his shaky stance on the issue
gives his opponents more ammunition.
Trudeau has already pivoted to
accusing him of having hidden interests;
this waffling resurrects Bill Blairs’
ridiculous claim that O’Toole would
“weaken gun control” and “remove the
restrictions on handguns.” In theory, the
issue is so heated and drenched with
emotion that it would be near political
suicide for O’Toole to argue the case on
its merits, but if he plans to make good
on his promise of a later review, he will

essentially have to do that anyway.
Had he made the argument now, it
would at least show gun owners that
he has more in him than just ‘I’m
not Justin.’
Maybe the most important
question is whether or not
the gun debate will become
important throughout the
remainder of the election cycle.
| don’t think it will; in some ways, the
conversation has already faded from
mainstream discourse.

| think that the wave of fear that
followed the Nova Scotia tragedy has
largely dissipated, and it is only the
most fervent anti-gun advocates who
are concerned by any potential change
to our gun laws. | think it is quite likely
that most Canadians would not be
concerned by a well-worded return to
pre-2020 gun laws. Though it is likely
not the best time to fight over the ban,
| suspect that if Canada maintains
its overall safety levels and begins to
address the issue of gang violence,
rescinding Bill C-21 will not cause too
much trouble. At least, | hope.

But we can’t know until the votes are
cast so | guess we'll have to wait and see.

Illustration by Athena Little