| Note:
This article also appeared in the Ottawa Sun, Winnipeg Sun, Calgary Sun,
Edmonton Sun
PUBLICATION:
The Toronto Sun -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Sticking to his guns Harper vows Tories won't tighten up controls on rifles and pistols -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Prime Minister Stephen Harper flatly rejected a growing chorus of calls for tougher gun control laws yesterday, insisting the Conservative plan is to tackle violent crime instead of punishing innocent duck hunters. As Liberal Leader Stephane Dion's campaign stopped at Montreal's Dawson College -- the site of a 2006 shooting spree that killed one student and injured 19 -- to call for beefed-up gun measures, Harper responded by saying his government has no plans to further restrict weapons. "This party has favoured the registration of gun owners. This party has favoured the registration of restricted weapons. This party has increased screening requirements for the purchase of all weapons and the fact of the matter is handguns and many weapons are in fact very difficult to own legally in this country," he said. "I don't think by registering every shotgun or long gun or having further restrictions on weapons you're going to deal with gun crime. I think it's gun crime we have to deal with, not some duck hunter with a shotgun." City mayors have been calling for a handgun ban for years, and in a recent report into the Dawson College shootings, coroner Jacques Ramsay called for a ban on the military assault weapon used by Kimveer Gill during the shootings. Gill committed suicide after being shot in the arm by police. But Harper said his government responded to the tragedy with "reasonable actions." "Unfortunately the registry didn't stop that incident, but we responded to it by toughening screening," he said. "We've dealt with gun crime by bringing in mandatory prison sentences for people who actually use guns to commit crimes. And we've introduced tough restrictions on bail for people who are accused of gun crimes." He also lobbed a veiled attack at Dion for using the site of a deadly gun tragedy to score political points. "I think you have to be careful in this business. You obviously have to respond to crime and to people's real concerns, but I don't think you ever want to be seen as exploiting particular tragedies," he said. Dion said the Liberals would outlaw military assault weapons like the one used in the Dawson spree. "The Conservatives' ideological opposition to reasonable firearms restrictions is simply unacceptable," said Dion. "It is not the Canada we want to build. And this election is about the type of Canada we want to live in." Harper began his day by enlisting the help of a Chinese immigrant family to show how his party is the most family friendly of the bunch. The highly choreographed event took place in a perfectly manicured backyard, a slightly surreal venue where a dressed-down Harper outlined Conservative measures to help mainstream Canada with the immigrant family in the backdrop. "We have worked hard to put thousands of dollars back into the hands of the average Canadian family, because that's the right direction for our standard of living and for our country," he said in the venue that looked more like a Hollywood set than an average backyard." Harper said the Liberals would turn back the clock for families trying to get ahead, with a new carbon tax and a potential reversal of the child tax credit. |