Toronto’s Gun Problem

Why handgun bans and increased police presence are not the answer

Content warning: gun violence 

On the weekend of August 3^rd to 5th, 2019, Toronto was shocked by 14 separate shootings, injuring 17 people. Five of the victims were shot at a North York nightclub, and another shooting in a Bridle Path Airbnb left a man with significant injuries. 

The severity of the incident lent a new spark to discussions about guns in Toronto, but it was far from the first instance of gun violence in the city this past summer. Two shootings in June, one on a TTC bus in Etobicoke and another downtown, left three victims injured; July saw six more shootings in North York, Scarborough, and Kensington Market. Many of these incidents have been tied to targeted gang violence. 

It’s becoming increasingly obvious that Toronto’s gun problem isn’t going away anytime soon. Victims have been traumatized, families have lost loved ones, and at-risk communities have grown more insecure. Toronto hasn’t seen this kind of gun violence since 2014, and if trends continue, this year or the next might break 2005’s record of 52 gun homicides. 

As the issue continues to grow, Torontonians continue to ask: why? 

Changes in gangs’ gun-carrying habits and an increase in gun circulation have both been cited by Toronto Police Services (TPS) as possible reasons underlying the recent uptick in shootings—but the roots of Toronto’s gun problem really go far deeper.  

The heart of the issue lies in outdated policy and socioeconomic barriers affecting the city’s marginalized communities. Shooters are commonly from the low-income neighbourhoods of Toronto—communities that face chronic poverty, violence, and social isolation. Under former Toronto Chief of Police Bill Blair, carding (the practice of stopping, questioning, and documenting individuals on the street when they are not being actively investigated) and police harassment plagued these neighbourhoods, and former Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s government pulled back on policies that allowed young gun offenders to seek rehabilitation and reintegration into society. There should be no doubt that these regressive actions have played a direct role in fostering further isolation and violence in already disadvantaged areas. 

In other words, our government screwed up. And the question naturally follows: how can they fix it? 

Mayor John Tory first addressed this question over a year ago following July 2018’s tragic Danforth shooting. In light of information that the shooter’s weapon was a handgun stolen from a Saskatoon store, Tory began to advocate for a handgun ban across all of Canada. Resistance from Ottawa led Tory to limit the proposed ban to Toronto, in hopes of getting legislation drafted faster. There are still major roadblocks to his suggestion— namely, the high cost of compensating legal gun owners and the continued problem of smuggling from the United States.  

Premier Doug Ford is opposed to a gun ban for the same reasons, calling instead for a crackdown on gangs, and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau isn’t committed to it, although he promises to strengthen gun control and take an intersectional approach to the gun problem. 

 Taking a step back, it looks like the only thing that Canada’s politicians seem to agree on is that this issue runs far deeper than a simple handgun ban—and that’s entirely true. A handgun ban certainly wouldn’t hurt, but it’s not an ultimate solution by any means. Gun violence cannot be solved with a purely logistical approach: the problem is a sociological one, perpetuated by cycles of poverty and disadvantage in our city. Increased police presence and gang crackdowns will do less than nothing to improve the situation, and will only widen the tensions between law enforcement and marginalized communities. 

We don’t need to pour more money into the police force. We should be investing in under-developed and under-attended communities across the city, engaging with members of neighbourhoods most affected by gun violence, and—most critically—intervening with the young people in these areas who are at the highest risk for gang involvement.  

Providing financial and mentorship support to youth in low-income communities, helping high school students through planning for post-secondary opportunities, and working to remove pervasive social and economic barriers to employment and education are the approaches that our lawmakers and authority figures need to take a closer look at before wringing their hands about gangs and throwing more police officers at the problem.  

Restricting access to guns is certainly important, and, again, wouldn’t hurt, but it isn’t the crux of the problem. Time and time again, our politicians seem to prove that they’re deliberately  

ignoring the fact that the real problem is in the patterns of inequality and mistrust that characterize the relationship between marginalized youth and Toronto’s police and the government.  

As well-intentioned as they may be, and whether it’s out of ignorance or negligence, our government and police officials aren’t acknowledging what needs to be done. Mental illness, poverty, and institutional racism in the police force and criminal justice system are the key factors waiting to be addressed in a thorough, holistic way. And until they are, a handgun ban is the least of our concerns.