Mendicino Claims National Gun Ban 'Doesn't Target Law-Abiding Gun Owners'

Mendicino said Ottawa’s newly introduced gun-control bill is a “step in the right direction to mitigate gun violence"

“Bill C-21, while it is a significant stride and the most ambitious in a generation, by itself, will not eradicate gun violence. We have to invest in our police, we have to make sure that we are protecting our borders, we have to introduce smart gun policy and we also have to make sure that we are addressing gun crime at its root cause,” he said. “It's not about picking one. It's about doing all of them at the same time.”

Many are criticizing the bill, and specifically the handgun freeze, noting how it unfairly affects highly-vetted, legal firearm owners instead of criminals who obtain guns illegally.

Mendicino disagrees. “Bill C-21 doesn't target law-abiding gun owners, it targets handgun violence, it targets organized crime,” he said. “I have enormous respect for law-abiding gun owners and have engaged with them and I've visited some of my opposition colleagues' ridings to talk with them. But the fact of the matter remains that Statistics Canada reports that gun violence is on the rise, handgun violence specifically is on the rise.”

It remains to be seen whether Mendicino's claim will be true.