Ontario Premier Doug Ford says handgun bans don’t work, and he pointed to Chicago as an example.

As the Toronto Star reports, Ford says he is opposed to the handgun ban in Toronto that the city’s mayor and council are advocating for. The Trudeau government has also taken the potential ban into consideration.

“I wouldn’t support a ban on handguns,” Ford told reporters Thursday. “There are a lot of legal, responsible handgun owners.”

The premier says the ban would be a misdirected effort. “We have to refocus all our resources going after the bad guys, not the good guys.”

In the wake of July’s mass shooting, both Toronto Mayor John Tory and the city council approved a motion to band handguns in its jurisdiction. The federal government has the final say on any legislation governing the sale of firearms and the provincial government controls where ammunition is purchased.

(RELATED: Toronto Mayor: Why Does Anyone In This City Need To Have A Gun?)

Ford cited the Chicago experience, where gun control legislation has not impeded the homicide rate.

“You look at Chicago — you all know that I spend a ton of time in Chicago — and they have a ban and, guess what? Last week they had 72 shootings — 72 or 76 shootings. Imagine that.”

Although Chicago has not had a total ban on handguns since 2010 when the Supreme Court ruled the legislation unconstitutional, city bylaws severely limit legal ownership.

Nicolas Johnson, editor of TheGunBlog.ca,,told The Daily Caller Thursday that he applauds Ford’s courage and plain talk.

“I want to shower Ford with praise for being the first political leader in Canada to stand up and say, ‘No.’ From the get-go this hasn’t had anything to do with stopping outlaws, it has been about scapegoating honest firearm owners,” Johnson said.

The leader of Ontario’s opposition New Democratic Party was shocked at Ford’s comments. Andrea Horwath told the Star that Ford’s opinion on handgun ban was “disturbing.”

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