The Year(s) of the Gun

This is getting out of hand. It's bad enough when there are murders, but within the past year or so, deaths caused by the use of guns has skyrcketed in Canada. Toronto has certainly seen it's share of this increase.

Why has this happened? You can fault a number of things: increasing number of gangs, reduced funding for social safety nets, more aggressiveness in the drug trade, or even people settling disagreements through the use of violence. Whatever the root cause, the implementation is the same...the use of guns.

Case in point. One of the latest murders in Toronto occurred last week when a couple left a bar late at night and got into their car. Before they drove off, someone walked up to the car and fired several shots killing the woman, and seriously injuring the man. Although the police don't have a motive yet for the shooting, they did find what they suspect is the gun used in the crime. It was purchased from a gun store in the U.S., in the state of Georgia, just a year and a half ago. The police have asked for assistance from the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms in the investigation.

How did this gun, apparently purchased legally in the U.S., end up in the hands of someone who committed a murder in Canada, apparently without provocation? Was the gun transported by the legal purchaser? Was it stolen and transported? Whatever the method that was used, we as a society have to look at ways of eliminating these acts, or at least reducing them. We can't just ask one group, such as the police, to stop the tide.

The best way, is to reduce demand. Reduce the demand and it will make it uneconomical to supply. How do we do this? I believe the biggest factor would be to keep our kids out of gangs (again a supply and demand issue). Gangs need members for strength. Don't give them members, and they remain weak or disband. There are a number of ways to do this, but none of them can be accomplished in isolation. It requires a coordinated effort. Things like: parents getting more involved with their kids' activities; funding community centres in the poorer areas so they have afterschool programs; social programs such as daycare, big brother/sister; and a host of other initiatives.

The government and judicial system can get tougher on gun related crimes. Harsher sentences and getting tougher on crimes committed by youths. The Youth Justice Act may be a good way to handle most offences committed by those under 18, but when guns are involved? There should be a special section for that. Also, harsher sentences for those caught smuggling guns into Canada. Make it riskier for them and it's less likely to occur.

But all of this is only part of it. The U.S. has to do their part too. Yeah, okay, we get into the Constitutionality of the right to bear arms. Sure, I'll give you that, however I don't think the American Founding Fathers had roving bands of armed gangs walking around with their itchy fingers on the triggers of automatic pistols ready to shoot you just because you accidentally bump into them, in mind. Of course there are the standard reasons for owning a gun: home defence, collecting, hunting, or whatever else. But what invariably happens is that guns are stolen from legitimate owners who store them improperly (such as in their night stand). That may be a Hollywoodization of the problem, but I don't think someone who owns a gun for home defence will store it in a safe in the basement, if they're up in the bedroom when they hear a burglar entering the house.

I'm sure you can point to many of the same ills that Canadians have, with respect to social programs, such as kids getting involved in gangs, etc. Americans should look at how they can improve that situation. But every American needs to do their part, just like Canadians, in drying up the demand. Keep your kids out of gangs, whatever it takes, even if it's "tough love." Stop taking drugs. That joint you're smoking, thinking that you're not harming anybody because you're smoking it at home alone, isn't bloodless. Governments should get tougher on criminal acts involving guns, but that should be in conjunction with programs making it more difficult to legally own a gun. In Canada, the process to own a handgun seems to be a lot tougher than in the U.S.

This is just the starting point. But like the old Chinese proverb, every journey begins with that first step.

Let's take those first steps...on both sides of the Canadian-American border.

Wings Over The World