Ottawa – Arab Canada News

The leader of the Canadian Conservative Party, Pierre Poilievre, pledged to lift the ban on the sale, purchase, and transfer of handguns if he wins in the upcoming elections, describing it as a “symbolic and ineffective measure” that targets law-abiding citizens rather than street criminals.

In statements made from one of Ottawa's suburbs, Poilievre said: “We will not target mothers and fathers who teach their children to shoot at shooting ranges, but we will pursue the real criminals who use smuggled weapons to commit crimes in the streets of Toronto, Vancouver, and Montreal.”

This statement comes as part of the Conservatives’ attempts to distinguish themselves from the liberal policies on security, as the party announced it would instead focus on tightening penalties for gun smugglers, enhancing border control, and supporting police forces.

The ban on handguns came into effect in October 2022 under the previous liberal government, as part of a broader plan to combat gun violence, which also includes a bill to restrict certain types of firearms. This ban has drawn criticism from shooting associations and sports clubs, which viewed it as “collective punishment” for those engaged in legitimate activities.

In response, the Liberal party's election campaign stated that “Poilievre is putting Canadian security at risk by appeasing the gun lobby,” asserting that “the imposed restrictions are necessary to reduce firearm-related crimes, which have seen an increase in recent years.”

The issue of firearms is one of the most divisive topics in the ongoing federal election campaign, especially amid rising incidents of gun violence in Canada’s major cities and the clear divide between the parties on how to address it.