The City of Montreal has unanimously approved a motion calling on Ottawa to get tougher on guns.
More specifically, the motion calls on Ottawa to implement much stricter gun control laws, including a countrywide ban on handguns and assault weapons.
The motion was proposed and presented by city councillor Alex Norris and focuses on Bill C-71, a piece of federal gun control legislation currently being considered.
The bill includes stronger background checks for gun licenses and would require someone buying a firearm to present their license before completing the purchase.
Norris’ motion calls on the federal government to make it illegal for anyone other than a police officer or member of the military to own a handgun or assault weapon.
“We want our cities and our country to be safer and banning private ownership of handguns and military-style assault rifles can help make our country safer, it’s as simple as that,” he said. “These are weapons that are principally designed to kill people. We see no reason law-abiding private citizens should own them.”
A similar motion was passed in Toronto in July in the wake of several deadly shootings. Last week, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said he had heard the requests coming from Canada’s two largest cities.
Montreal Mayor Valerie Plante said she doesn’t anticipate much opposition to the motion.
“I feel like it’s going to be a calm debate, though all debates are important,” she said. “I feel there’s a pretty good consensus that we need to better protect our population and banning handguns is one way to do it.”
