Trudeau bans ‘military-grade’ guns in Canada following largest mass shooting in country's history

Source: RT

May 1, 2020 at 16:57

Canadian PM Justin Trudeau has announced that his government will be banning assault-style weapons, in response to last week's Nova Scotia rampage that saw 22 killed.

The disturbing April 18-19 attack saw a 51-year-old denturist go on a wild killing spree, in which he shot his victims with two semi-automatic rifles and pistols, and also torched homes – to be later killed in a confrontation with police. Canadian police said it wasn't immediately clear why the suspect, identified as Gabriel Wortman, went on his 13-hour rampage, while reports have tied his violent breakdown to a property dispute and to alcohol abuse during the lockdown.

Notably, the guns found in Wortman's possession were not obtained legally. This didn't stop the influx of calls for tighter gun controls in Canada, culminating in Trudeau's Friday announcement.

"These weapons were designed for one purpose and one purpose only: to kill the largest number of people in the shortest amount of time," the prime minister said, concluding that "there is no use and no place for such weapons in Canada."

Assault-style firearms designed for military use have no place in our communities. That’s why we banned 1,500 of them today. Get the details here: https://t.co/8EEsbW7qdf
— Justin Trudeau (@JustinTrudeau) May 1, 2020

Fun fact: even before the Trudeau gun ban it was already illegal to own any firearm, or any weapon whatsoever, for the purpose of self-defense. It's a criminal offense for regular citizens to point a gun at someone, under any circumstance, even if you're being attacked. https://t.co/E1dGAKaQ3b
— Frλ͎ncis ☣️ (bullbitcoin.com) (@francispouliot_) May 1, 2020

The ban has infuriated Canadian gun owners, who have pointed to the fact that Wortman was not licensed to own any of the firearms he used to commit the massacre. While the country's police agency, the RCMP, has claimed Wortman wielded an “assault-style” weapon, the other models of gun he used have not been made public and it is not yet known whether they are included in the far-reaching ban. Trudeau had made such a ban a cornerstone of his campaign platform, however, indicating he would have introduced it anyway, even without the massacre in Nova Scotia.

This is absurd.

Instead of focusing on the real problems leading to gun violence - gangs and illegal guns crossing our southern border - the Liberals punish law abiding gun owners.

Trudeau again uses a crisis to push for more government control.https://t.co/fxU9ucaTqs
— Maxime Bernier (@MaximeBernier) April 30, 2020

The list of banned guns also drew ridicule from some quarters, for the presence on it of actual military weapons – surface-to-air missile launchers, RPGs, and other heavy-duty arms that almost never end up in civilian hands.