SourceCanada's Liberals promise complete ban on handgunsDec 8, 2005 — By Jeffrey HodgsonTORONTO (Reuters) - Canada's ruling Liberals, under pressure to clamp down on gun violence in big cities, will move to ban all handguns if they win the January 23 election, Prime Minister Paul Martin said on Thursday.
Canada already has extremely restrictive firearms legislation, but under the Liberal proposal only police and some security officers would be allowed to carry handguns.
So far this year some 50 young men — most of them black — have been shot dead in Toronto. Some government officials blame the problem in part on smuggling of handguns from neighboring United States.
"I've come to the conclusion that significant change is needed. I've come to the conclusion that we should ban handguns," Martin told a rally in one of the most violent areas of Toronto.
"Handguns kill people. That's why they exist. They are taking too many Canadian lives," he said.
Canada's murder rate is about one third of that in the United States but there is rising fear about gun crime in Toronto, traditionally a stronghold for the Liberals.
Martin — saying many handguns used in violent crimes had been stolen from collectors — made clear collectors would be given a certain amount of time to sell, get rid of or disarm their guns. An amnesty program would also be set up to pay people who handed in their illegal handguns.
He said there would be a "narrow exemption for legitimate target shooters" but gave no further details.
His minority Liberal government was brought down by a corruption scandal last month and polls show he is likely to be returned next month with another minority, which means he will be forced to rely on opposition parties to govern.
Opposition parties dismissed the plan as a gimmick. The left-leaning New Democrats, who backed Martin for much of the year, said the Liberals had cut police funding and social programs designed to help vulnerable members of society.
"The last-minute Liberals want Canadians to believe they are here to fix the problems that have grown over their 12 years of running the country," it said in a statement. The Liberals have been in power since late 1993.
