Liberal Leader Steven Del Duca says he would ban all handguns if elected June 2
A provincial Liberal government would take aim at all handguns if elected June 2.
In a campaign-style announcement in Scarborough, Liberal Leader Steven Del Duca said if he topples Progressive Conservative Premier Doug Ford, handguns would be banned within a year.
I've had it with Doug Ford's open for business policy for guns," Del Duca said Tuesday behind a podium reading: We Will Ban Handguns."
The Ford Conservatives are putting the interests of the gun lobby ahead of the Ontario victims of gun crime they swore an oath to protect. The result is handgun violence is spiralling out of control," he said.
Del Duca said handguns would be outlawed everywhere in Ontario within a year of him winning power.
The choice on handguns is clear, more handguns and gun crime under the Ford Conservatives or a ban on handguns under the Ontario Liberals."
Noting Ford's government has blocked municipal and federal efforts to ban handguns in Ontario," Del Duca pointed out the premier himself opposes such prohibitions.
This is unacceptable," the Grit leader said.
Solicitor General Sylvia Jones' office emphasized the Tories have been working with police and municipalities to reduce gun crimes.
The statistics are clear, over 80 per cent of guns being used in crime are obtained using illegal means - including from across the border - and half of the gun-related deaths in Ontario are gang related," Jones' office said in a statement.
That's exactly why our government has invested a record $185 million to combat gang violence fuelled by these smuggled guns. This included reversing the Del Duca-Wynne Liberals' cut of millions per year in anti-gang intervention programs," the office said, apparently referring to former Liberal premier Kathleen Wynne's government letting a $600,000 annual program expire in 2016.
With the election campaign set to officially begin in two weeks, all the parties are revving up the political rhetoric and looking to showcase their policy differences.
The Liberals believe Ford's stance on guns could help them with urban voters.
Two years ago, when Ottawa announced a ban on military-grade assault weapons, the premier said that was the wrong way to go.
Let's strengthen the sentences rather than giving these nasty criminals, the gang bangers, a slap on the wrist," he said in 2020.
You think the violence is going to go down in Toronto? I don't believe it's going to go down in Toronto based on taking legal guns off gun owners."
After Toronto council requested a ban on the sale of handguns and ammunition in city limits in 2018, Ford said: I wouldn't support a ban on handguns."
There's a lot of legal, responsible handgun owners. We have to refocus all our resources going after the bad guys, not the good guys," he said at the time.
Toronto Mayor John Tory said Tuesday that a province-wide handgun ban would be a step in the right direction towards a national handgun ban."
I continue to believe in the position city council has endorsed," said Tory, urging heightened efforts against gun-smuggling, stiffer penalties and bail conditions for gun offenders, and continued investment in kids and families to address the roots of gun violence."
Del Duca said a Liberal government would accept Ottawa's offer to bankroll a buyback program and work with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to reduce smuggling from the U.S.
We will work with our partners and we will lead in this regard ... within one year of taking office," he said, adding the Liberals would also push other provinces toward a similar ban.
With files from David Rider
Robert Benzie is the Star's Queen's Park bureau chief and a reporter covering Ontario politics. Follow him on Twitter: @robertbenzie