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I don’t blame people in Toronto for wanting action on gun crime. Things have been getting bad, but this is more like a divide between reality and fiction than a divide between parties.

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Let’s look at the stats.

Between Jan. 1 and July 14, there were 203 shootings with 310 victims, including 18 people who died from gunfire.

Something must be done, but banning handguns from legal gun owners won’t stop gunplay in the streets.

First off, the guns used by gangs mostly come from the United States and are smuggled in via the black market. They aren’t purchased at your local hunting store or gun show.

Last year, a member of the Toronto Police Service made the false claim in a media interview that 50% of the guns used in crime were sourced in Canada. After multiple media outlets from the Toronto Sun to CBC proved the claim false, TPS admitted the claim was false and made in error.

Taking guns away from legal gun owners won’t stop the supply of handguns smuggled into Canada.

Take the case of the Danforth shooting. Police have never stated outright where the shooter obtained his gun, but we do know that his brother had been living in a house where 33 illegal, smuggled guns were discovered along with 42 kilos of the deadly street drug carfentanil.

Stopping those guns, and the deadly opioid crisis that is fueling the gunplay, will have a real impact.

So will charging those with illegal guns with every charge that they could possibly face.

Legal gun owners, the people who go through a two-day safety course, pass tests, RCMP background checks and more, before waiting for a gun licence can face a whole series of charges if they don’t store their guns properly.