The Liberal government announced the introduction of Bill C-21, that will among other things, will ban the future legal sale of handguns in Canada and increase the allowable penalties for gun smuggling and trafficking.\u00a0Conservatives have always stood for common sense firearm safety and strong consequences for those who commit firearms offenses. The Trudeau Liberals are not serious about stopping dangerous criminals from getting their hands on illegal guns and they are not serious about making our streets safer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Since the Liberals were elected in 2015, gun crime has gone up steadily each year, despite their arbitrary bans and their complicated and expensive buy back program. For years, Conservatives have been calling on the government to address gun smuggling and improve the ability of border agents to prevent the flow of illegal guns into Canada.\u00a0The new border control measures fall short of giving agents targeted resources or a directed task-force to detect smuggling. It\u00a0is disappointing that after 7 long years, the Liberal government has only managed to block a Conservative bill that would toughen consequences for gun smuggling and are not focused on stopping guns at the border.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Liberals talk a big game about gun crime, but the fact is they are going soft on the real gun criminals and weakening the law where it counts. With Bill C-5 they are taking away mandatory jail time for violent gun crime and allowing those criminals to serve under house arrest in our communities. The Liberal approach makes our communities less safe and more at risk for gun crime.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Liberals have ignored gun safety and put politics first at every step. This has come at the expense of everyday Canadians who are being victimised in their own communities by rising gun violence committed by gangs and dangerous criminals. Canadians are tired of false promises. This announcement once again proves the Liberals are focused on headlines not on safety.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
While the Liberal plan continues to fail and gun violence continues to go up, Conservatives will stay focused on common-sense firearm safety, and tackling gun crime and making communities safer.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n