It wasn’t long ago that I was helping a constituent of my downtown ward clean his neighbour’s front walk with a mop. It should have been a simple, happy scene of Toronto neighbours lending each other a hand.

But the man I was with needed a mop because he was cleaning his 18-year-old neighbour’s blood off the steps. The teenager, who luckily survived, had been shot in the back while taking out the garbage. He had no involvement with the shooters; he was simply outside in a neighbourhood the shooters were targeting.

The worst part of that heartbreaking incident was how common similar stories have become. From 2013 to 2016, criminal incidents involving firearms in Canada were up 30 per cent, and gun homicides increased 60 per cent. Intimate partner and gender-based violence involving the use of a firearm was up by one-third. This year, gun violence is on track to surpass the “Year of the Gun” that panicked Toronto in 2005.

We can’t allow this to be the new normal.

It’s not acceptable for Torontonians to fear gun violence in playgrounds, on busy shopping streets, on patios and in restaurants. That’s why I moved the motion for our city to call on the federal government to ban handguns in Toronto. City council supported my motion and also called on the government to ban assault weapons across Canada. Montreal has since followed suit. Now, it’s time for the federal government to act. We need to ban handguns in Canada. Full stop.

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Opposing view: Will a gun ban work in Toronto? No

Would a ban get every gun off the streets or address the root causes of gun violence? Of course not. But contrary to the common belief that gun crime is mainly committed with guns smuggled across the border, 50 per cent of crime guns traced by police originate in Canada.

A handgun ban would remove a significant portion of the guns on our streets. Every illegal gun begins as a legal gun. With almost 1 million legally owned, we have created opportunities for theft and illegal sales. A ban is one essential element of an effective strategy to decrease gun violence.

Fewer guns, fewer shootings. Frankly, it’s not rocket science. Last year, the United Kingdom, with 60 million people, had 27 gun murders. By contrast, Toronto has already had 37 gun murders this year, with less than 5 per cent of the population of the U.K. Worldwide statistics are clear: industrialized countries with fewer accessible guns have fewer gun fatalities.

The Trudeau government has indicated they’re open to considering a handgun ban. We must urge them to move quickly to protect Canadians.

But banning guns is not the only solution. We need to work to move Canada away from a gun culture, and to address the root causes of gun violence. This must be done in concert with a reduction in available guns.

Gun violence is systemic. It encompasses gang violence, the drug trade, and poverty. After the caution tape goes down, that’s the moment when we need to expand our efforts to invest in strong and safe neighbourhoods. Mentorship, youth employment, mental health, and poverty reduction programs all join a handgun ban as interlocking elements of effective gun control.

THE BIG DEBATE: For more opposing view columns from Toronto Star contributors, click here.

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The discussion of any ban is always a discussion of competing rights. Contrary to much public rhetoric, the Supreme Court of Canada has repeatedly said, in this country, there is no right to bear arms. There is, however, a right to be safe.

In this case, we must weigh the hobbies of handgun owners — who use guns for target shooting or collecting — against the rights of others to maximize the chance for a safe life. This is not about hunting or rifles. We have to ask ourselves whether the ability to legally buy fatal weapons is a right we want to enshrine over the rights of communities to feel and be safe.

Nobody should have to mop up their neighbour’s blood because we refuse to act on gun violence. We have to implement a practical plan of both effective gun control and long term programming to eradicate the roots of gun violence. A handgun ban is a proven, essential step that we ignore at our peril.