Thank you for the question.
We know that while smuggled guns are a problem and more work is needed to address that—we have recommendations on that as well—a portion of firearms recovered in crime are legally sourced. The Danforth shooting was a legal handgun and the mosque shooting was done by a legal gun owner with legal handguns.
In fact, most mass shootings in Canada over the last 20 years have been done with legal guns by legal owners or with guns that were diverted through legal owners to illegal sources, as in the murders in Mayerthorpe.
It's important, in our view, to respect the views of Canadians. Only about 300,000 gun owners in Canada have restricted weapons. There are lots of hunters and farmers who support a ban on handguns. There is a big difference between firearms that are reasonably used for hunting and those that are used for other sport.
I think it's important that we draw a line. The fact that handgun imports doubled in the first six months of this year when the ban was announced tells you something about the drivers for this.
We've seen a dramatic increase of handgun violence in rural communities. While a lot of attention is focused on urban communities, with the proliferation of handguns, we've seen more handgun violence in rural communities.
There are big questions around why people are owning handguns. Many are not sport shooters, and we really need to turn off the tap.