As gun violence in the city continues to rise at an alarming rate, Toronto city council has asked both the provincial and federal government to ban the sale of guns and ammunition locally.
At a city council meeting on Tuesday, a number of motions were approved that would address gun violence in the city, which follows a mass shooting that took place on The Danforth just two days ago that left a 10-year-old and an 18-year-old dead, injuring 13 others.
In a 41-to-four vote, city council approved a motion to “urge” the Federal Government to ban the sale of handguns in Toronto and the Provincial Government to ban the sale of handgun ammunition in the city.
The motion was put forward by Coun. Joe Cressy, who represents Ward 20, Trinity-Spadina.
In a vote of 41-4 City Council has voted in favour of a ban on the sale of handguns and handgun ammunition in Toronto. Now up, a vote to increase our funding for community-based violence prevention programs by $30 million. pic.twitter.com/cAopCkD4KY
— Joe Cressy (@joe_cressy) July 24, 2018
Since January 1 and Monday, July 23, there have been 228 shooting incidents in the city, according to the most recent Toronto police shooting statistics. In comparison, there were 205 shooting incidents during this time in 2017.
Following the vote, Toronto city councillor Kristyn Wong-Tam said “real gun control” needs to take place across the country, not just in Toronto.
Councillor Wong-Tam added, “we need to strengthen this bill and ban handguns, assault rifles and semi-automatics in Canada.”
Real gun control has to happen across the country, not just in Toronto. #BillC71 is proposed federal gun legislation before the Senate. We need to strengthen this bill and ban handguns, assault rifles and semi-automatics in Canada.#DemandGunControl #EndGunViolence https://t.co/saqHwVzyTj
— Kristyn Wong-Tam (@kristynwongtam) July 25, 2018
My 4 motions moved at today’s #gunviolence debate.
1. Strengthen gun laws and ban firearms. #BillC71
2. Review report from Youth Leaps, a Somali Youth Research Initiative.
3. Staff use zoning by-laws to limit sale of ammunition.
4. Develop a GBA+ lens over all safety strategies. https://t.co/0KZxF5ZxD0— Kristyn Wong-Tam (@kristynwongtam) July 24, 2018