https://www.thespec.com/opinion-story/8798658-editorial-it-s-time-for-canada-to-consider-a-handgun-ban/We realize many Canadians, including farmers, hunters, trappers and Indigenous Peoples, have legitimate reasons for using long-guns, such as rifles or shotguns. In contrast, it's hard to see why any private citizen needs to own a handgun, and the experience of countries that have banned such weapons may guide us.
Japan, a nation of 127 million people which has banned handguns, seldom has more than 10 shooting deaths a year. The United Kingdom banned the private ownership of handguns and saw its rates of gun crime fall dramatically. Could a handgun ban do the same here?
Critics will argue that criminals in this country can always buy black market firearms smuggled in from the United States. But while border security should be tightened, police say half or more than half of the firearms used criminally in Canada originated in this country.
I think we should go where the evidence leads us... if the evidence says we'd be generally safer by banning handguns, then that's the direction we should go. Obviously, tightening up the border would also help.