A group of victims and families of those affected by the Danforth mass shooting last summer are calling for a federal ban on private ownership of handguns and assault rifles.

The group that gathered Friday at a concert venue just blocks away from where last summer’s violence took place read an open letter sent to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, urging him to change gun laws to help prevent similar attacks in the future.

The July 22 shooting left two people dead — 18-year-old Reese Fallon and 10-year-old Julianna Kozis — and injured 13 others. The shooter, Faisal Hussain, killed himself after a brief shootout with police.

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“My life was forever changed,” 15-year-old Quinn Fallon, Reese Fallon’s sister, said at a Friday morning news conference. “The pain and loss we feel without Reese and Julianna is indescribable.”

She said she “vividly remembers” her parents shouting at her to call her sister once they saw news of the shooting.

“My family and the Kozises now wake up with an incomplete family,” she said.

Survivors and loved ones affected by the Danforth mass shooting hug following their first public statement as a group on Friday. (Tijana Martin / THE CANADIAN PRESS)

“We miss Reese and we miss Julianna,” said shooting victim Noor Samiei, a friend of Reese Fallon’s. “We have to live with that, but we don’t have to live with the laws that could be changed to help prevent this from happening again.”

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The news conference came hours before Toronto police Chief Mark Saunders told media the Toronto police investigation into the Danforth shooting was complete, though he did not offer details of what it found.

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“I know the public is interested in knowing a lot of things, and there are a lot of questions to be answered, and we will put that forward,” he said, adding more details will be released after consultation with victims.

The group pointed to countries like the U.K. and Australia, which have extremely tight controls on gun ownership, as examples to follow.

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The group encouraged supporters to sign an online petition calling for the gun ban. Since its inception in November, more than 14,000 people have signed.

A poll last December found most Canadians favour of a gun ban in urban areas — although Torontonians are split on the best way to combat gun violence, between weapon bans, mental health services, social programs and police-community cooperation.

Toronto Mayor John Tory has been outspoken about his desire for a federal handgun ban, and spoke personally with the Danforth group.

Samiei said she and Fallon used to talk often about how their future children would play together.

“Are we going to learn from our experience or are we going to express grief in the moment and move on?” she said.

“We are better than this as a nation.”

Noor Samiei, a survivor of the Danforth Avenue shooting in 2018, remembers her good friend Reese Fallon. (Tijana Martin/ THE CANADIAN PRESS)

The letter sent to Trudeau on Friday calls on the federal government to take concrete action on gun control.

“Having taken some seven months to grieve and consider what we should do to make a difference, we are urging that Canada follow the lead of other like-minded countries such as the UK, Japan and Australia and impose a ban on the private ownership of handguns and military style assault rifles,” it reads.

“We acknowledge that this action is not the only step that needs to be taken to stem gun violence; however, we believe it will be impactful and effective as the results in other countries have shown.”

A gun control law, Bill C-71, is making its way through the Senate.

It includes changes to the Firearms Act and Criminal Code. Among its amendments are considering events more than five years in the past when judging applicants’ eligibility for gun licences and requiring a buyer’s licence be verified in the sale of non-restricted firearms.

Victims of the Danforth mass shooting call for a federal ban on private ownership of handguns and assault rifles. (Tijana Martin / THE CANADIAN PRESS)

It does not include an outright ban on private ownership, and Organized Crime Reduction Minister Bill Blair is expected to make further recommendations on gun control in the coming weeks after holding consultations across the country.

“We are committed to reducing gun and gang violence and keeping our communities safe,” Blair said Friday in a written statement. “To that effect, we are currently leading a collaborative and comprehensive review of rising gun violence across Canada and are considering all options, including a ban on handguns and assault-style rifles, while not impeding the lawful use of firearms by Canadians.”

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