unimaginative2
Senior Member
Premier pushes handgun ban
Jordan Manners, 15, was shot and killed inside C.W. Jefferys Collegiate Institute on Wednesday, May 23.
Ontario politicians called on the federal government Thursday to get tough on handguns following a tragic high school shooting that claimed the life of a 15-year-old Toronto boy.
"We have seen too many shootings result in too many funerals for our young people," Premier Dalton McGuinty wrote in an open letter to federal party leaders, urging them to push through proposed criminal justice legislation and implement a "real ban" on handguns.
"Handguns are designed for one purpose only – to shoot people – and should have no place in Ontario or anywhere in Canada."
Handguns are already severely restricted in Canada, and a handgun registry has been in force for more than 60 years.
The Conservative government has already introduced a number of crime bills, including one to provide mandatory minimum sentences – which get higher for repeat offenders – for a range of crimes involving firearms. That bill is still before the House of Commons.
Public Safety Minister Stockwell Day, who was in Germany on Thursday for a international meeting, offered his condolences to the victim's family in a written statement.
But the Ontario government is pressing for more action.
The value of allowing handgun collections should be reconsidered, said Ontario Attorney General Michael Bryant.
"There's got to be a balance between people's property rights and personal responsibilities to others," he said.
Currently, handguns in Canada are classified as either restricted or prohibited weapons. Canadians can receive a licence to own a restricted weapon if they can prove it's part of a gun collection or used for target practice or target-shooting competitions.
Only under "limited circumstances" can a person possess a restricted firearm for employment purposes, such as for a police officer, or for protection of a life.
Toronto Mayor David Miller, who voiced his support for an outright ban, went a step further and recommended that handgun regulation should become an international issue.
"We know that there's two sources of guns used in Toronto: one is guns that are stolen from collectors, and the other is guns that come from the U.S.," Miller said.
"The U.S. has to take some real steps, otherwise we're going to keep seeing tragedies. ... I mean, a 15-year-old boy. You know it's absolutely tragic."
Family and friends of the victim, Jordan Manners, were still reeling Thursday from the teen's death.
"I've lost my heart," Manners' mother, Lorraine Small, told CBC TV.
"My whole neighbourhood, they're all behind me. Teachers from his school, I have to pull from them. Jordan's friends, I have to pull from them. They're my rock."
Jodyanne Robinson, 15, who attended C.W. Jefferys Collegiate Institute with Manners, said the boy was looking forward to getting his driver's licence.
"He was just the sweetest little kid," Robinson said. ``He's so quiet. And if you didn't bother him, he didn't bother you."
Despite Wednesday's fatal shooting, Miller maintained that Toronto schools remain safe and won't have to move towards high-tech security systems, such as metal detectors found in many U.S. schools.
"Canada is not the United States and as far as I'm concerned, collectively, we're never going to let it become the United States," Miller said.
The Toronto District School Board doesn't intend to install metal detectors, said board assistant superintendent Donna Quan. Metal detectors aren't foolproof, and students can bypass them by taking different doors, she said.
Josias Guzman, another friend of Manners', agreed that installing metal detectors would go one step too far.
"It could maybe prevent future incidents, but it might be too harsh," Guzman said.
But some students at the school said they are concerned about their safety and want increased school security.
"You have cameras at traffic lights, but at school they have nothing," Robinson said. "It doesn't make sense."
Grade 11 student Richard Hamilton said: "If there were cameras, this wouldn't have happened."
Board trustee Stephanie Payne disagreed.
"Cameras would not deter these kinds of incidents," she said outside the school. "They will happen anyway, whether there are cameras or not."
C.W. Jefferys is already on a list of city schools scheduled to have security cameras installed. Of the 109 high schools in the Toronto District School Board, 65 have security cameras.
Payne added that C.W. Jefferys is "one of the safest schools in Toronto," and many parents realize it is a "very safe, compassionate school."
After an extensive search of the school's property Thursday, police said they found no weapons and were continuing their search for a suspect in the shooting.
In 2005, handguns accounted for almost six in 10 firearm homicides, compared to one in four that involved rifles and handguns, according to Statistics Canada.
Of the 658 homicides reported by police last year, 222 were committed with a firearms, up from 173 in 2004.
Jordan Manners, 15, was shot and killed inside C.W. Jefferys Collegiate Institute on Wednesday, May 23.
Ontario politicians called on the federal government Thursday to get tough on handguns following a tragic high school shooting that claimed the life of a 15-year-old Toronto boy.
"We have seen too many shootings result in too many funerals for our young people," Premier Dalton McGuinty wrote in an open letter to federal party leaders, urging them to push through proposed criminal justice legislation and implement a "real ban" on handguns.
"Handguns are designed for one purpose only – to shoot people – and should have no place in Ontario or anywhere in Canada."
Handguns are already severely restricted in Canada, and a handgun registry has been in force for more than 60 years.
The Conservative government has already introduced a number of crime bills, including one to provide mandatory minimum sentences – which get higher for repeat offenders – for a range of crimes involving firearms. That bill is still before the House of Commons.
Public Safety Minister Stockwell Day, who was in Germany on Thursday for a international meeting, offered his condolences to the victim's family in a written statement.
But the Ontario government is pressing for more action.
The value of allowing handgun collections should be reconsidered, said Ontario Attorney General Michael Bryant.
"There's got to be a balance between people's property rights and personal responsibilities to others," he said.
Currently, handguns in Canada are classified as either restricted or prohibited weapons. Canadians can receive a licence to own a restricted weapon if they can prove it's part of a gun collection or used for target practice or target-shooting competitions.
Only under "limited circumstances" can a person possess a restricted firearm for employment purposes, such as for a police officer, or for protection of a life.
Toronto Mayor David Miller, who voiced his support for an outright ban, went a step further and recommended that handgun regulation should become an international issue.
"We know that there's two sources of guns used in Toronto: one is guns that are stolen from collectors, and the other is guns that come from the U.S.," Miller said.
"The U.S. has to take some real steps, otherwise we're going to keep seeing tragedies. ... I mean, a 15-year-old boy. You know it's absolutely tragic."
Family and friends of the victim, Jordan Manners, were still reeling Thursday from the teen's death.
"I've lost my heart," Manners' mother, Lorraine Small, told CBC TV.
"My whole neighbourhood, they're all behind me. Teachers from his school, I have to pull from them. Jordan's friends, I have to pull from them. They're my rock."
Jodyanne Robinson, 15, who attended C.W. Jefferys Collegiate Institute with Manners, said the boy was looking forward to getting his driver's licence.
"He was just the sweetest little kid," Robinson said. ``He's so quiet. And if you didn't bother him, he didn't bother you."
Despite Wednesday's fatal shooting, Miller maintained that Toronto schools remain safe and won't have to move towards high-tech security systems, such as metal detectors found in many U.S. schools.
"Canada is not the United States and as far as I'm concerned, collectively, we're never going to let it become the United States," Miller said.
The Toronto District School Board doesn't intend to install metal detectors, said board assistant superintendent Donna Quan. Metal detectors aren't foolproof, and students can bypass them by taking different doors, she said.
Josias Guzman, another friend of Manners', agreed that installing metal detectors would go one step too far.
"It could maybe prevent future incidents, but it might be too harsh," Guzman said.
But some students at the school said they are concerned about their safety and want increased school security.
"You have cameras at traffic lights, but at school they have nothing," Robinson said. "It doesn't make sense."
Grade 11 student Richard Hamilton said: "If there were cameras, this wouldn't have happened."
Board trustee Stephanie Payne disagreed.
"Cameras would not deter these kinds of incidents," she said outside the school. "They will happen anyway, whether there are cameras or not."
C.W. Jefferys is already on a list of city schools scheduled to have security cameras installed. Of the 109 high schools in the Toronto District School Board, 65 have security cameras.
Payne added that C.W. Jefferys is "one of the safest schools in Toronto," and many parents realize it is a "very safe, compassionate school."
After an extensive search of the school's property Thursday, police said they found no weapons and were continuing their search for a suspect in the shooting.
In 2005, handguns accounted for almost six in 10 firearm homicides, compared to one in four that involved rifles and handguns, according to Statistics Canada.
Of the 658 homicides reported by police last year, 222 were committed with a firearms, up from 173 in 2004.
