Provincial Liberals promise handgun ban for Ontario

The Liberal party of Ontario has promised a total crackdown on handgun ownership if it wins the next provincial election.

The announcement of the proposed handgun ban came as part of the Liberals' platform announcement ahead of this spring's provincial election, in which the Doug Ford-led Progressive Conservatives will face off against the Steven Del Duca-led Liberals.

In a statement on the Liberals' website following a press conference, Del Duca blamed Ontario's rising gun violence on his political opponents. The Liberal platform promises to not just ban handguns inside Ontario, but also to attempt to ban handguns for the rest of the provinces. Here's how the statement reads:

An Ontario Liberal Government would do what Doug Ford won’t and ban the sale, possession, transport and storage of handguns. Our plan will also:

• Accept the federal government’s offer to fund a buy-back program;
• Partner with the federal government to stop gun smuggling at the Ontario-US borders;
• Advocate to extend the ban nationally so that guns can’t be funneled through inter-provincial borders.

You can read the rest of the announcement here, or see Del Duca's public statement here.

The reality

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and the federal Liberal party have made it clear they wish to enable provinces and municipalities to restrict handgun ownership, and provincial leaders in both Ontario and Quebec have indicated a willingness to go ahead with this idea. In the case of Ontario, Del Duca says the provincial Liberals would enact this handgun ban in their first year of power. With a spring election, we're looking at this being enacted in the next 14 months, with a provincial Liberal majority.

Having said that: The federal Order in Council firearms bans are hardly progressing very rapidly, running into court challenges and logistical problems. Add in the fact that Ontario shooters legally own an estimated 400,000+ handguns at least, with a minimum average value of $850 each. That's going to be a very expensive confiscation process, one that taxpayers might find hard to swallow.

Adding to that: Many in law enforcement are unlikely to back this ban, based on their existing opposition to the Order in Council firearms ban, and the fact that many, many police officers are about to see their own personal property banned through this action.

Still: the Ontario provincial election is only weeks away. Handgun owners who wish to retain their personal property should most certainly wake up and pay attention to the proceedings. Don't assume that just because an idea is bad, the government won't take steps to make it happen and make your life miserable.