Border Security and Organized Crime Reduction Minister Bill Blair says his review of possible gun bans in Canada will include semi-automatic rifles like the kind a gunman used to murder 50 people at two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand last week.



“There is no option that we will not consider,” Blair said Tuesday in response to questions about a review of military-style rifles following the attack.

“I am prepared to examine every measure and to discuss with my prime minister and the cabinet and our government on any measure that can be effective in keeping Canadians safe.”

The former Toronto police chief referred to the New Zealand shootings and a January 2017 attack on a mosque in Quebec City as he explained the government’s intention to consider all options. The government is currently digesting an internal report from Blair based on consultations he led last fall on possible bans of certain firearms that are classified as restricted in Canada.

The weapons under review include handguns, generally restricted to use only in shooting sports or at licensed gun ranges, as well as military-style assault rifles that are classified as restricted and can be used only at licensed target ranges.

Within 72 hours of the mosque shootings, New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said her government would ban semi-automatic rifles.

“I will tell you that certainly we look at that terrible tragedy in New Zealand, and we also reflect upon what took place in Quebec at one of our mosques,” Blair said in an interview.

A Quebec man, who had expressed anti-Muslim sentiments, killed six worshippers at the Islamic Cultural Centre of Quebec on Jan. 29, 2017, and injured 19 others before his capture by police. Alexandre Bissonnette, in his late 20s, pleaded guilty to six counts of first-degree murder in March 2018, and a year later received a sentence of life in prison with no chance of parole for 40 years. The Crown and Bissonnette’s attorneys are appealing the sentence.

Ardern has vowed to not ever mention the name of the shooter, who was also captured by police, and urged other New Zealanders to voice only the names of the victims, and not the name of the killer.

The owner of a Christchurch gun shop who sold the shooter the weapons used in the attacks told media his store, called Gun City, sold four guns to the Australian man, who had taken up residence in New Zealand, and claimed none of the weapons were “military-style” semi-automatics.

Ardern said the attacker used five guns, two of them semi-automatic, and that they were purchased with an ordinary gun licence and modified.

Current New Zealand law allows the purchase of military-style semi-automatic rifles, but a notice on the New Zealand Police website advises that a “special reason” is required to import and use them.

“There has been, tragically, a number horrific events where large numbers of people have lost their lives, and we look very hard at the weapons that are used in those offences and I think, again, we have to consider every measure that may be effective in making it more difficult for those who would commit such terrible crimes to gain access to firearms,” Blair said.

Blair noted the New Zealand government’s decision to ban semi-automatics.

“I am of course very mindful of the legislative approach that they proposed to take,” he said. “We are considering all of the circumstances that exist in Canada.

“We are prepared to examine any and every measure that will be effective in reducing the incidents of gun violence in this country. I think that’s exactly what Canadians expect of us, and we are prepared to do that based on an advised way, in a thoughtful way,” Blair said. “I like evidence-based policy; I think it’s very important we do that.”