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Goodale declined comment on that, too.

“I think it’s better to do it that way in a coherent way to be the most effective,” he said, referring to the Liberal’s election campaign commitment to repeal elements of Bill C-42, the former Conservative’s government’s 2015 gun law.

“That process is underway in developing the specific legislative proposals,” Goodale said. “I want to produce during the weeks ahead the full, specific package that we’re talking about. We treat this subject very seriously and this is a sad anniversary, and we express to all of those, the victims and the families and the friends of the people who suffered this tragedy our very heartfelt condolences and messages of support.”

Goodale’s reluctance to address the availability of the Cx4 triggered an angry response from prominent gun-control advocate Heidi Rathjen, a survivor of the 1989 Ecole Polytechnique massacre in Montreal and spokeswoman for gun control group Poly se souvient.

“It is outrageous that a weapon that the coroner said should have been banned in the first place, not only is it still legal, but it’s more readily available for ordinary Canadians to own,” Rathjen said following a Tuesday memorial ceremony at Dawson. “As a non-restricted weapon, police don’t know how many there are, who has them, how many they have and who they’re selling them to.

“This has been an issue for 26 years now, that we need to get certain weapons off the market,” she said. “The solution is: you do not allow weapons that are designed for military purposes into the hands of civilians.”