Time to stop deadly gun violence: Senator Jaffer
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The government’s gun bill, C-71, has sparked a polarizing but important debate in the Senate Chamber in the past several weeks. As a member of the Senate Committee on National Security and Defence, which is studying the bill, I’ve heard from many witnesses about how this legislation will affect Canadians.
There is one witness, though, whose testimony struck me the most — Dr. Najma Ahmed, co-chair of the Canadian Doctors for Protection from Guns. As a trauma and critical care surgeon at St. Michael's Hospital in Toronto, Dr. Ahmed witnesses firsthand the effects of gun violence.
During her testimony in February 2019, Dr. Ahmed said she was on call on the night of the shooting on the Danforth that killed three people and injured 16. She then recounted what she described as a much more common story that plays out in hospitals across the country on a daily basis.
“Last Wednesday, I told a woman that her 25-year-old daughter was dead. She had been shot by her common-law partner. The fatal wound was the bullet that tore through her brain from behind, and on the grandmother’s lap sat a nine-month-old daughter,” she said.
“This was a preventable tragedy.”
Gun violence, she told senators, is a “public health crisis” that can be mitigated by further regulating access to guns in Canada.
Bill C-71 proposes six main initiatives to help with gun violence prevention.
One of these initiatives I found crucial is background checks. Now, a gun owner can acquire a gun with a Possession and Acquisition Licence and a five-year background check. With C-71, law enforcement would have to examine that person’s whole life instead. This is to weed out people with violent criminal past and a history of spousal violence.
Many Canadians from across the country have shared with me their concerns about the five-year time limit. For example, an applicant could be prevented from being issued a firearm licence because the person had suffered from depression decades ago. However, Bill C-71 bill clearly indicates the offences and mental health issues considered for the background check must involve violence.
I am deeply concerned about violence against girls and women committed with firearms.
On April 5, 2013, in Bracebridge, Ont., two weeks before graduating at Nipissing University, Lindsay Margaret Wilson was stalked and killed by her ex-boyfriend in a murder-suicide. Her ex took his own life with the same gun he used to kill her.
Lindsay had been preparing to start a master’s degree in social work at the University of Windsor in a few months’ time. Her killer legally acquired the licence and the gun, despite arrests for drug trafficking, kidnapping and assault years before.
Our lax licensing and background check system shouldn’t have made it easy for him. Lindsay’s tragic end is a reminder of the crucial need for law enforcement to examine a whole life instead of the last 5 years.
And, sadly, Lindsay is not the only victim.
If you search for names like Rajwar Gakhal and Mila Yoynova online, it will paint a familiar but tragic picture of individuals intentionally killed by family members and ex-partners with legally registered guns.
This is why a lifetime check is crucial. These victims’ lives could have been spared.
Bill C-71 reverses measures that have weakened Canada’s gun control regime. Sparing people’s lives and assuring better safety for all — mostly girls and women — are the reasons why I stand behind Bill C-71.
Senator Mobina S.B. Jaffer is deputy chair of the Senate Committee on National Security and Defence. She represents British Columbia.
The government’s gun bill, C-71, has sparked a polarizing but important debate in the Senate Chamber in the past several weeks. As a member of the Senate Committee on National Security and Defence, which is studying the bill, I’ve heard from many witnesses about how this legislation will affect Canadians.
There is one witness, though, whose testimony struck me the most — Dr. Najma Ahmed, co-chair of the Canadian Doctors for Protection from Guns. As a trauma and critical care surgeon at St. Michael's Hospital in Toronto, Dr. Ahmed witnesses firsthand the effects of gun violence.
During her testimony in February 2019, Dr. Ahmed said she was on call on the night of the shooting on the Danforth that killed three people and injured 16. She then recounted what she described as a much more common story that plays out in hospitals across the country on a daily basis.
“Last Wednesday, I told a woman that her 25-year-old daughter was dead. She had been shot by her common-law partner. The fatal wound was the bullet that tore through her brain from behind, and on the grandmother’s lap sat a nine-month-old daughter,” she said.
“This was a preventable tragedy.”
Gun violence, she told senators, is a “public health crisis” that can be mitigated by further regulating access to guns in Canada.
Bill C-71 proposes six main initiatives to help with gun violence prevention.
One of these initiatives I found crucial is background checks. Now, a gun owner can acquire a gun with a Possession and Acquisition Licence and a five-year background check. With C-71, law enforcement would have to examine that person’s whole life instead. This is to weed out people with violent criminal past and a history of spousal violence.
Many Canadians from across the country have shared with me their concerns about the five-year time limit. For example, an applicant could be prevented from being issued a firearm licence because the person had suffered from depression decades ago. However, Bill C-71 bill clearly indicates the offences and mental health issues considered for the background check must involve violence.
I am deeply concerned about violence against girls and women committed with firearms.
On April 5, 2013, in Bracebridge, Ont., two weeks before graduating at Nipissing University, Lindsay Margaret Wilson was stalked and killed by her ex-boyfriend in a murder-suicide. Her ex took his own life with the same gun he used to kill her.
Lindsay had been preparing to start a master’s degree in social work at the University of Windsor in a few months’ time. Her killer legally acquired the licence and the gun, despite arrests for drug trafficking, kidnapping and assault years before.
Our lax licensing and background check system shouldn’t have made it easy for him. Lindsay’s tragic end is a reminder of the crucial need for law enforcement to examine a whole life instead of the last 5 years.
And, sadly, Lindsay is not the only victim.
If you search for names like Rajwar Gakhal and Mila Yoynova online, it will paint a familiar but tragic picture of individuals intentionally killed by family members and ex-partners with legally registered guns.
This is why a lifetime check is crucial. These victims’ lives could have been spared.
Bill C-71 reverses measures that have weakened Canada’s gun control regime. Sparing people’s lives and assuring better safety for all — mostly girls and women — are the reasons why I stand behind Bill C-71.
Senator Mobina S.B. Jaffer is deputy chair of the Senate Committee on National Security and Defence. She represents British Columbia.