Perhaps as predictable as rain in Seattle, the aftermath of last weekend’s tragic shooting rampage in Nova Scotia has brought more demands for, and promises of, additional gun control measures in a nation that already has far stricter gun laws than the United States.
According to BuzzFeed, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has pledged “to continue to push for stricter gun laws” following the murder spree that now has a body count of 23. Authorities have discovered more victims beyond the original 18 known to have perished. Some of the dead have been recovered from the remains of burned-down structures.
A report from RCI (Radio Canada International) said, “a coalition of four gun control groups” has written to federal Public Safety Minister Bill Blair, insisting “action right now: ban the new sale of military style assault weapons.”
But the Royal Canadian Mounted Police have so far declined to identify the types of firearms used by alleged killer Gabriel Wortman, 51. He is described as a “denturist” who owned a clinic in Dartmouth. N.S.
Liberty Park Press and TheGunMag.com reached out to the RCMP in Nova Scotia for details, but the brief response was terse, “all currently available information has been released and can be found on our social media.”
A follow-up message stated, “The investigation is ongoing. Further updates will be released when available.”
An article in the Globe and Mail suggested Wortman owned “two handguns and a shotgun similar to police-issue firearms.” There is no information about whether he owned a so-called “military style assault weapon” either legally or illegally.
In a scathing statement, the U.S.-based Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms said the weekend rampage “provided more proof that strict gun control laws will not prevent determined individuals from committing mayhem.” The grassroots gun rights organization, with members across the country, has been paying close attention to the Canadian reaction because it will almost certainly have a ripple effect across the border.
“We do not believe adding more restrictions on gun ownership for law-abiding Canadian citizens will to anything to prevent such tragedies in the future,” said CCRKBA Chairman Alan Gottlieb.
His sentiment was echoed by Dr. Caillin Langmann, described by RCI as “an emergency room physician and professor of medicine at McMaster University, who has written studies on gun laws and incidence of gun violence.” Dr. Langmann reportedly said tougher gun control laws pushed by the Liberal government and Canadian gun control activists have not reduced gun violence in Canada, RCI reported.
The nation adopted tougher gun laws in the wake of the 1989 “Montreal Massacre” that took the lives of 14 female engineering students at Ecole Polytechnique.
CCRKBA has had considerable experience with anti-gunners trying to capitalize on each new mass shooting.
“For decades,” Gottlieb said in a prepared statement, “we have been on the front lines in the battle to protect our Second Amendment. We’ve listened to repeated claims that the next new gun law is going to prevent violent crimes and make people safer. The only people made safer by restrictive gun laws are criminals and crazy persons who attack honest citizens, even in their own homes, and to whom ‘gun-free zone’ signs translate to a risk-free environment.”
He encouraged people to learn from the rampage rather than exploit it.
“The very first lesson may be hard for some to accept,” Gottlieb said, “but it is this: Extremist gun control laws do not prevent unspeakable crimes and they perpetuate a false sense of security that often has tragic results. Adopting new restrictions will not change that dynamic and may even make things worse.”
