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Guns in Toronto shootout, Hamilton killing linked to U.S. trucker's smuggling scheme (www.cbc.ca)
submitted 4 months ago by to c/canada@lemmy.ca
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A former trucker from Florida has been sentenced to more than four years in U.S. prison after smuggling handguns into Canada that were later recovered at 10 crime scenes in Ontario and Quebec, and linked to two killings.

Court documents reviewed by CBC News provide a rare glimpse into a cross-border pipeline for crime guns.

The scheme saw U.S. firearms purchased legally, then transported up to 2,000 kilometres north to be re-sold to a Canadian trafficker for the retail price of the gun, plus a $1,000 fee for each weapon.

One of the weapons was found in Toronto after what police described as a "reckless" shootout in November 2024 that they said highlighted the "real and present danger" posed by illegal firearms.

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[–] 10 points 4 months ago (13 children)

Because crime is used as a reason to restrict legitimate access to firearms.

Two years ago today, we froze the handgun market and stopped handguns from being bought, sold, or transferred anywhere in Canada.

We choose your safety over the gun lobby — every time.

— Justin Trudeau (@JustinTrudeau) October 21, 2024

While I do agree there are certain firearms that are higher risk than others, I don’t think stopping legitimate owners and users was the right call to curb crime and improve safety.

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  • [–] 3 points 4 months ago

    The handgun freeze did nothing to keep anyone safe. The gun bans are entirely against shooting sports and legitimate firearm activities (such as collecting).

    I demand that Trudeau show one shred of evidence of what he said. Just one.

    I am on my phone and I would like to write a long ass rant, but it is going to have to wait.

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  • [–] [S] -5 points 4 months ago (11 children)

    Well tbh your quote is specifically about handguns, not firearms in general. So no, I don't agree with you at all.

    Handguns can be concealed and are often used in robberies and murders. Long guns are usually used for hunting.

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  • [–] 4 points 4 months ago (1 child)

    The government recently banned a ton of long guns that were previously legal, in the name of crime prevention and that fact they look scary. The compensation program for the buy back is nearly a lottery, there are not enough funds to refund the expected number of returned firearms.

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  • [–] 1 point 4 months ago

    Those rifle bans are dumb, but they're basically how they've always done things. When they were deciding on what was a 'restricted' vs 'prohibited' rifle in the 90s when the licensing scheme first got into play, it was clear that they looked up a gun digest and simply picked out a lot of stuff at random and it made no sense.

    For example AK rifles were prohib, but ARs were not. AR rifles were restricted, but plenty of equally capable rifles were non-restricted. Some bans literally made no sense. The G41 assault rifle, an experimental German rifle that never went beyond the prototype phase, was added to the prohib list anyway. That gun was produced in such limited quantities and uses such unique and highly specialized ammunition (it was an experimental caseless round) that no criminal or criminal organization can get a hold of no matter what.

    The whole point is their thinking is 'I hate guns and I want to destroy any and all shooting sports and hunting' This even apparently is extending to subsistence hunters who need a rifle to survive. This is why the SKS is not yet banned even though they have been trying to for a very, very long time. If they ban that it will cause a hell of a lot of problems for a lot of people... and they're still trying anyway!

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  • [–] 2 points 4 months ago* (2 children)

    Legally owned handguns in Canada are and were the rarest type of firearm encountered in crime. More stolen police guns are used for murder and robbery in Canada than privately owned pistols.

    Edit: long guns have held the record for worst mass shootings, and banning semi-autos hasn't diminished their deadliness.

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  • [–] 2 points 4 months ago (5 children)

    The OP is specifically about handguns.

    Long guns can be cut down. 20 mins and a hacksaw blade get you a saw-off shotgun. Not quite as pocketable as a small handgun, but very lethal at close range.

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  • [–] 1 point 4 months ago (2 children)

    You are forgetting that pocket pistols have been prohibited in Canada since the early 90s.

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  • [–] 0 points 4 months ago (1 child)

    I can’t forget that because I didn’t know it.

    (Partially because I moved to Canada about 10 years ago 😁)

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  • [–] 1 point 4 months ago*

    Then I will give you a primer. Handguns with a barrel length below 4 inches were prohibited in the 90s, some handgun calibers like those in .25 ACP were also banned with narrow exceptions.

    For short barreled rifles and shotguns the law is different in Canada vs. The US. In the US any rifle with a barrel length below 16 inches and any shotgun with a barrel below 18 inches is regulated under the NFA. In Canada there was no such prohibition. Canadian AR-15s were routinely in the 14.5 inch range and pump action shotguns with barrels as short as 9 inches are legal.

    What is very illegal, however, is hacking off the barrel. If you bought a double-barrel shotgun with 24 inch barrels but cut them down to 14 inches yourself, you committed a big crime. However if you swap them for factory made barrels that length it would be legal.

    Basically you have it be any length you want as long as it is how it is made in the factory or with legally sourced factory components.

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  • [–] [S] -5 points 4 months ago (1 child)

    I was referencing this quote ...

    Well, we'd better take all my legally owned guns away then.

    They generalized guns when the article focused on handguns.

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  • [–] 2 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago)

    They banned over 15,000 models of rifle and are now targeting shotguns for future bans. This is despite the fact that the use of shotguns in crime has been diminishing for decades in all places without legislative changes.

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