Up In Arms

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Abbotsford

Calgary

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Will you ban civilian ownership of semi-automatic guns?

YES

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Marco

Hi, what would you like to ask me today?

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You

What are the legal grounds for a police stop and search in Canada?

Marco

If police believe you have an illegal weapon, they can stop and search you anytime, anywhere. Or if they suspect you have a gun that’s been involved in a crime.

And they don’t have to record it.

You

Why is stop and search racial profiling?

Marco

It typically happens in low-income neighbourhoods with minority populations.

Which often amounts to racial profiling.

You

Do stop and search procedures make communities safer?

Marco

It sometimes gets guns and drugs off the street.

But it also breaks down trust.

Police have investigated my clients because they have ‘characteristics of an armed person’. How they walk. Their clothes. Their stance.

You

How does this practice affect community cooperation with police?

Marco

Young people constantly harassed by police are unwilling to come forward to report crime or testify.

This is the result of the inherent distrust between those who are subjected regularly to the power of the state.

You

Have your clients been stopped?

Marco

One client of mine has been stopped 14 times in 13 months.

And never charged.

He’s become very jaded.

You

What are the effective alternatives to stop and search?

Marco

You have to build trust with the "non-criminal" members of the community.

That means getting out on the street and building relationships.

Not stopping and searching everyone who looks suspicious.

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Do you support stop and search procedures for police?

YES

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Pamela

Hi, what would you like to ask me today?

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You

What types of weapons are used in cases of domestic homicide?

Pamela

One in three women killed by their husbands in Canada are shot. Long guns and rifles top the list of choice of weapon.

They are used in more than 70% of spousal homicides involving guns. The victims are most often women and children.

You

Why did registering ALL guns make a difference?

Pamela

Since the 1930’s handguns and other restricted firearms have been registered. The long gun registry meant ALL guns would be registered including non-restricted shotguns and rifles typically used for hunting.

With a registry, an abuser knows that police can tie each of his firearms to him if he chooses to use them in an act of violence.

You

Did Canada’s long gun registry reduce incidents of domestic violence?

Pamela

We know that police were checking it 11,000 times a day.

If they went to a home and there was a domestic event, they could check the registry and see how many guns were registered in that name.

You

Doesn’t the registry infringe on privacy rights?

Pamela

You could use the same argument to get rid of registering cars. Nobody seems to have a problem with that.

Why is it they have a problem with authorities knowing where their guns are?

There’s no right to privacy around owning a gun under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

You

The new Common Sense Firearms Act stops people convicted of domestic violence from having a gun license. Won’t that protect families?

Pamela

No, because it’s only for convictions.

And in lots and lots of cases, there may be evidence for a peace bond or an emergency protection order but NOT enough evidence to take the charge to court.

Even if there is a conviction, how does that protect the women between the time of arrest and a conviction that can take as long as two to three years?

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Should all guns be registered, including non-restricted firearms?

YES

Messages

Guest

Hi, what would you like to ask me today?

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You

Do all gang members have guns?

Guest

99% of gang members have a gun. It's not hard to get one.

Most of your friends will sell or give you one.

-Gurmit, Vancouver

You

What's your take on gun violence?

Guest

Once we went to buy some product from another crew.

When we got there they pulled iron on us and told us to get off their turf. We pulled our guns and started shooting.

-DeShawn, Toronto

They gave me a gun to shoot someone. We were on the street. They pointed to a random guy and told me to shoot him.

I pulled the trigger. No bullets. Just a test.

-Matt, Burnaby

You

What convinced you to leave the gang?

Guest

A couple of my friends got shot and killed. I'm not trying to live that life and get killed.

Gotta finish high school.

-Treyvon, Toronto

There was a shooting and an innocent bystander was killed.

That was a turning point for me.

-Vinh, Calgary

I quit cuz my cousin got gunned down... I quit cuz of all the scars and the bullet wounds.

And the pain, the pain in my heart.

-Darrin, Toronto

You

Do gang exit programs work?

Guest

Programs, they're just bullshit.

They send a few social workers into your community and a few $'s.

Little kids like that shit. But men see it as an illusion.

Gangs can give you better than that. At lest they're real.

-Quan, Toronto

We laughed at it. It was completely ignorant. They would see a video about American Black gangs and apply it to our school.

That didn't work for us. We're going to leave your program.

-JP, Calgary

You

What types of programs will work?

Guest

Give money to the community. Better schools. More black role models. Distract us from 'the game'.

-Jamal, 22

You can't say "oh, go get a job" or "here's a job".

Once they quit or get fired, you gotta stick with these people. If you're trying to help don't reject them.

-Zane, Toronto

Programs like education, giving people good education and making them believe. But the jobs and the money gotta be there.

If you give poor people hope, then take it away, they just gonna be more pissed and more desperate and gangs are just gonna get stronger.

-Darius, Toronto

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Will you fund an anti-gang program for at risk youth?

YES

Messages

Ian

Hi, what would you like to ask me today?

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You

Why do you own a gun?

Ian

I'm an owner, collector, former shooting instructor. I had a carry permit many years ago because I was a trapper.

I'm well trained and guns are part of my life.

You

What happened the morning of August 22, 2010?

Ian

I woke up early in the morning to the sound of guys yelling outside. There were guys in balaclavas throwing firebombs at my house.

I think the attack is related to a feud I've been having with my neighbour for a long time.

You

What did you do?

Ian

I tried to call 911 but couldn't. Police are over 20 minutes away. If I didn't act, I was going to die.

I went out on the porch and fired three rounds. I shot into the ground, one into a tree by my driveway, one next to it.

The intent was to stop the attack. No-one was hit. They took off.

You

When police arrived what happened?

Ian

I made a decision before I grabbed a gun that I would be charged. And I was.

Instead, they should have given me some kind of recognition to say here's a citizen of this country doing the right thing, taking criminals off the street.

You

Did police arrest the assailants?

Ian

Police got them. But now all three guys are out of jail. I'm absolutely convinced they're going to come after me.

And I have no doubt in my mind that they want retribution for being sent to prison.

You

Why should you have the right to carry?

Ian

My life is still in danger. I firmly believe Canadians want the right to carry, to use firearms for self-defense.

If you're qualified, well trained and have a good mindset, you should not be restricted from carrying a gun.

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Would you allow citizens to carry a gun?

YES

ABOUT THE DOCUMENTARY

SYNOPSIS

UP IN ARMS: How the Gun Lobby is Changing Canada Synopsis

Since the repeal of Canada’s long-gun registry, gun sales are up, gun clubs are booming, and a once silent minority is coming out of the closet. Tired of the stigma associated with owning guns, and emboldened by recent wins in the gun control battle, Canadian gun owners are on the offensive.

Up In Arms: How the Gun Lobby is Changing Canada takes viewers inside a subculture that is just now coming out of the shadows. With an estimated 10 million guns in Canadian homes, Canada ranks 13th among gun-toting nations. For every one hundred Canadians there are 24 firearms. This feature documentary immerses viewers in our country’s evolving gun culture to witness the evangelical zeal with which gun owners like John Evers and Tony Bernardo are winning converts, and building a pro-gun lobby in the image of America’s National Rifle Association.

What impact will the pro-gun lobby have on Canada’s urban centres where a growing number of communities are plagued by poverty, crime and gun violence? In Toronto’s high-priority neighbourhood of Weston-Mount Dennis, we follow youths involved in a program designed to keep them away from guns, gangs and drugs. They are all threatened by the presence of guns in their community. Each of them knows someone who has been shot or carried a gun for protection. Their reality is juxtaposed against the views of law-abiding gun owners, and the call for reduced gun control legislation.

In Hamilton, Paulette Langlois has been selling guns for almost 30 years. She’s at war with her neighbours and politicians who want to hamper her business. Amidst the gentrification of Locke Street, Al Simmons Gun Shop is a beehive of activity with four salesmen on the floor and a gunsmith in the basement. Paulette’s customers run the gamut from doctors and lawyers, to retired police officers and seasoned hunters. Her neighbours want her gone, but Paulette’s more inclined to stay. Each year she sets up a booth to display her guns at the Locke Street Fair. Despite vandals and break-ins, Al Simmons is not moving shop.

Up In Arms follows the unfolding stories of our characters within these strikingly different communities. Their perspectives are contextualized by disturbing statistics about the relationship between deregulation and gun violence. Convicted gun trafficker, Ricardo Tolliver, offers a chilling explanation about why more than 70 percent of Canada’s crime guns come from the United States, and it has everything to do with gun laws. But recently more and more crime guns are originating in Canada. In Toronto, half of all guns used in crimes are now being sourced from Canadian gun stores or gun owners.

Canada is the only country in the world repealing gun control legislation. The result has been a steady increase in the number of gun sales and sport shooters, alongside a rise in gun violence in our most vulnerable communities.

Is this where Canada is headed? A world of two extremes, divided by the gun, and motivated by fear?

THE CHARACTERS

UP IN ARMS – CHARACTERS

	JOHN EVERS bought his first gun at 19 and now owns more than 65. A passionate advocate for personal firearms ownership, John takes a special interest in introducing youth, the next generation, to shooting. As Ontario Regional Director for the Canadian Shooting Sports Association and past President of the East Elgin Sportsmen’s Association, he’s raised his own kids with guns in their hands. A ball of energy with a salesman’s patter, this preacher will take his pulpit wherever there’s an audience, pitching the pro-gun cause to one, two or a few at a time – whether at his club’s open house, a gun show or a university classroom.
	PAULETTE LANGLOIS owns one of the busiest gun stores in southern Ontario. Al Simmons Gun Shop has anchored Hamilton’s Locke Street South since 1969, through the neighborhood’s evolution from a district in decline to trendy restaurant row. Viewed as a social blight by some of her neighbouring businesses and residents, Paulette is targeted by hostile critics and brazen criminals alike – but Al Simmons is here to stay. What began as a single rack holding 10 long guns has grown to a store with nearly 300 firearms on display.
	TONY BERNARDO is the Executive Director of the Canadian Shooting Sports Association and a full-time Canadian firearms lobbyist. The man behind the destruction of Canada’s long-gun registry, his focus now is shepherding the federal government’s Common Sense Firearms Licensing Act through Parliament. With the clock ticking towards a federal election, one of the most high-profile shootings in Canadian history dominates the headlines, and threatens to kill the bill. But with access to the backrooms of Parliament and the highest levels of the NRA, Tony is a powerful force in shaping Canada’s gun laws.
	ALEX grew up surrounded by drugs and crime in Toronto’s Regent Park mourning close friends lost to gun violence. Now, at 18, she’s out of her old neighbourhood and trying to put the street life behind her. She’s joined a community program for at-risk youths in Toronto’s Weston-Mount Dennis neighborhood, another area stigmatized by poverty, crime and gunfire. All of the youth in the program have been impacted by the presence of guns in their community. Back in school and determined to be a role model for her younger siblings, Alex takes the first tentative steps toward a better future.
	RODERICK BRERETON as the co-founder of Urban Rez Solutions, Roderick draws on his own experiences with crime and poverty growing up in Scarborough to connect with his young clients. Combining street smarts, a sociology degree and the youth cred of his career as an urban music artist, Roderick thinks outside the box. His program Take Back Your World, Navigate Your Life searches for the best hook that will keep each young participant out of jail and on the way to a safer, more successful future.
	BILL BLAIR, a policeman’s son, grew up and raised his family in Scarborough, a Toronto suburb that’s seen more than its share of crime. Bill began his 10 years as Toronto’s Police Chief in 2005, a time when the city was experiencing crime and violence at levels that hadn’t been seen since the 1970s. His community-based policing approach won both praise and criticism. He believes the best defense against gun violence are laws that control the accessibility of guns -- and he makes a dramatic comparison between two cities, one American, one Canadian, to prove it.
	RICCARDO TOLLIVER is an American who came to Canada to buy marijuana, and ended up masterminding the largest cross-border gun smuggling operation in Canadian history. A bright and charismatic university graduate who was once headed for law school, he is now serving a 32-year prison sentence in a U.S. Federal Penitentiary. He offers up the smuggler’s perspective on how gun laws impact the illegal gun trade, and whether authorities have a shot at battling the black market

THE FILMMAKERS

	Nadine Pequeneza Director, Writer, Producer Nadine Pequeneza began her career as a broadcast journalist working with Canada’s flagship news and current affairs programs – CTV’s W5 and CBC’s The National. For the past 17 years, she has created award-winning documentaries for Canadian and international audiences. Nadine’s HitPlay Productions strives to tell character-driven stories that captivate, entertain and educate. Her work has screened at festivals around the world from Toronto, to Milan, to Prague to Sichuan. She is a four-time Canada Screen Award Nominee in both directing and writing categories. Among her feature documentaries are 15 to Life: Kenneth’s Story, about a 15-year-old sentenced to life in prison for armed robbery and his quest for redemption following a landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision. An Honouree at the American Bar Association’s Silver Gavel Awards, the film aired across the United States on PBS in 2014. For her documentary series Inside Disaster Haiti, Nadine spent six months embedded with International Federation of Red Cross relief teams after the devastating 2010 earthquake, earning a Gemini Nomination for Best Directing in a Documentary Program, a Special Jury Award at the Sichuan Film Festival, and Official selections at the One World International Human Rights Documentary Festival and Milano Film Festival. In 2005 Aristide’s Haiti won a Gold Plaque at the Chicago International Film Festival and was Gemini nominated for Best Writing in a Documentary Program. Raising Cassidy, the story of a crack-addicted mother trying to regain custody of her child, was an official selection at Hot Docs Toronto International Festival and Rencontres Internationales du Documentaires de Montréal. Nadine’s upcoming projects include the story of an international movement that’s bringing together big capital and charity to create innovative social programs, and the future of legal euthanasia in Canada.
	Stan Barua Cinematographer Stan Barua’s work in documentary and drama has attracted accolades and awards on five continents. Born in Poland where he earned his MA in Cinematography from the National Film School in Lodz, he also lived and worked in Kenya before moving to Canada in 1998. His credits include Baba’s House (Best Cinematography Award, Yorkton Short Film Festival; Eastman Kodak Cinematography Award, Houston International Film Festival; Best Canadian Short Drama Award, Atlantic Film Festival), Rain (Best Atlantic Canada Short Film Award, Atlantic Film Festival), Forgotten Places (Best Cinematography Award, Warsaw Terra Film Festival), and The Seas of Zanzibar. Stan’s non-fiction book I Shot My Human Being: On Spirited Cinematography will be published later this year. He is now writing a crime drama feature film set in Europe, Africa and Canada.
	Denis Takacs Editor Sought-after documentary editor Denis Takacs has worked in the Canadian documentary film and television industry for the past 25 years. His films have won numerous awards and reached wide audiences in Canada and abroad. Denis edited the National Film Board of Canada’s House Calls, the touching story of a physician who photographs his patients to highlight the lack of adequate home care for the elderly in Canada. House Calls won Best Social/Political Documentary at the Gemini Awards; Speakers for the Dead, winner of Best Documentary, Reel Black Film Awards, for revealing black history once lost beneath an Ontario potato patch; Raising the Kursk, Gold Medal winner for Best Science Documentary at the Columbus International Film and Video Festival; and Kivalina vs Exxon, Best Documentary, Whistler Film Festival.
	Ricardo Acosta Story Consultant Ricardo Acosta, C.C.E., immigrated to Canada from his native Cuba in 1993. He is a Sundance alumni and has edited award-winning documentaries, including Herman’s House, which premiered at the Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival and won an Emmy; Marmato, for which he won Best Editor in a Documentary from the Canadian Cinema Editor Awards, Sembene!, which premiered at Sundance and screened at Cannes in 2015, and The Take, directed by Naomi Klein and Avi Lewis, which was an official selection at the Venice Film Festival and for which Ricardo was nominated for a Best Picture Editing Gemini Award.
	Alex Khaskin Composer Accomplished pianist, conductor and composer Alex Khaskin has been making music from an early age, attending a school for the musically gifted and winning the St. Petersburg Young Composers’ Festival prize in his native Russia. Since moving to Canada in the 1990s, he has scored music for dozens of film, television and documentary projects, including My Opposition, Adult Overnight, Crimes of the Heart and Living through Dying. He is the composer of a contemporary classical music symphony, a violin concerto, two cello concertos, concertos for piano, a triple concerto for violin, viola and cello and a string quartet, as well as choral and vocal works.

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CANADIANS OWN 10 MILLION GUNS AND SALES ARE ON THE RISE

New Feature-Length Documentary
UP IN ARMS: How The Gun Lobby Is Changing Canada
Takes Aim at the Gun Control Debate

World Broadcast Premiere on TVO Wednesday, September 23 at 9 pm.

(Toronto, September 3, 2015) – Up In Arms: How the Gun Lobby is Changing Canada, a new documentary by Nadine Pequeneza (Inside Disaster Haiti) and produced by HitPlay Productions, makes its world broadcast premiere on TVO Wednesday, September 23 at 9 pm.

In Up In Arms, the Toronto-based filmmaker explores the rising level of private gun ownership and sport shooting in Canada against the backdrop of further gun deregulation and escalating gun violence in Canada’s most vulnerable communities.

Pequeneza filmed the project over two years and was granted rare access to record documentary footage at gun shows, dealers and competitions, as well as inside the world’s largest firearms trade show in Las Vegas.

“Canada is at a crossroads with regard to gun control legislation,” says Up In Arms director/producer, Nadine Pequeneza. “Which path we choose will have significant, long-term implications for our society. I hope this film encourages Canadians to begin a much-needed discussion about the future of gun control.”

Emboldened by the recent repeal of the long-gun registry, Canada’s gun lobby is pushing for further deregulation. Up In Arms follows Tony Bernardo, Executive Director of the Canadian Shooting Sports Association (CSSA) and a full-time Canadian firearms lobbyist, as he shepherds Bill C-42, a new, less restrictive gun law, through Parliament. The film also talks to gun owners like John Evers, Ontario Regional Director for the CSSA and past president of the East Elgin Sportsmen’s Association. Evers has raised his own kids around guns and takes a special interest in introducing Canadian youth, the next generation, to sport shooting. In Hamilton, Up In Arms meets with gun store owner Pauline Langlois, who has become a pariah in the gentrified neighbourhood where her store Al Simmons Gun Shop has operated for more than 40 years.

To most gun owners guns signify sport and recreation, but in Canada’s poorest neighbourhoods, where the vast majority of shootings occur, guns are the cause of fear and deadly violence. Up In Arms talks to former Toronto Police Chief Bill Blair who feels that laws and anti-gang initiatives are only a start to reducing violence, and thinks that action has to be taken at a community level to help young people make better choices. Roderick Brereton, a youth counsellor in Toronto’s Weston-Mount Dennis area, runs a program aimed at steering at risk kids away from gangs, drugs and guns. One of his group is Alex, who grew up surrounded by guns and crime in Toronto’s Regent Park and is now, at age 18, trying to turn her life around. She talks about the demand for guns and the impact of easy access.

Up In Arms will be repeated on TVO on Wednesday, September 23 at midnight, on Friday, September 25 at 10 pm, and on Sunday, September 27 at 11 pm. TVO will also offer the film for free online viewing at www.tvo.org beginning Thursday, September 24.

Up In Arms also has an interactive website, funded by TVO and the Bell Fund, launching on August 28, 2015, called Up In Arms: What Do You Think? It will offer a rich interactive experience, inviting users to learn and share their opinions about issues related to gun control and public safety. Check it out at http://www.upinarms.ca/

Up In Arms is a HitPlay Production and was commissioned by TVO in association with Knowledge Network and SRC, with the participation of The Bell Fund, The Canadian Film or Video Production Tax Credit, and the Ontario Media Development Corporation Film and Television Tax Credit.

About HitPlay Productions
http://hitplayproductions.ca/

HitPlay Productions is a Toronto-based production company specializing in social issue documentaries with the potential to engage audiences in the world around them. Founded in 2000 by award-winning filmmaker Nadine Pequeneza. Among her feature documentaries are 15 to Life: Kenneth’s Story, about a 15-year-old sentenced to life in prison for armed robbery and his quest for redemption following a landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision. An Honouree at the American Bar Association’s Silver Gavel Awards, the film aired across the United States on PBS in 2014. For her documentary series Inside Disaster Haiti, Nadine spent six months embedded with International Federation of Red Cross relief teams after the devastating 2010 earthquake, earning a Gemini Nomination for Best Directing in a Documentary Program, a Special Jury Award at the Sichuan Film Festival, and Official selections at the One World International Human Rights Documentary Festival and Milano Film Festival.

Website: http://www.upinarms.ca/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/upinarmsdoc
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/upinarmsdoc

For media preview link and interview requests, contact:
Jeremy Katz
Publicist for HitPlay Productions
Toronto
Office/Land: 416-656-6970
Cell/Text: 416-997-6970
Email: jeremyk@sympatico.ca

DIGITAL TEAM

Producer
Nadine Pequeneza

Interactive Designer
Evan Jones

Creative Designer
Jeff Flores

Technical Director
David Fono

Project Manager
Wayne Shipley

Director
Anna Emmanouil

Writer
Claire Bickley

Researcher
Claire Bickley

Editor
Stephane Allard

Graphics
Stephane Allard

Archive Researcher
Elspeth Domville

Intern
Danielle Heifa

GET INVOLVED

TIMELINE OF CANADIAN GUN LAWS

1877	Justice Minister Edward Blake tells Parliament the “practice of carrying firearms is becoming too common … they were carried by two classes who ought not to carry them … the rowdy and reckless characters, and boys and young men.” He introduces legislation recognizing defense of self, family or property as the only legitimate reason for carrying a gun.
1892	The first Criminal Code requires individuals to get a basic permit, known as a 'certificate of exemption,' from a Justice of the Peace to carry a pistol unless they have cause to fear assault or injury.
1913	Carrying a handgun outside the home or place of business without a permit becomes illegal, punishable by three months in jail.
1919-1920	Individuals now need a permit to acquire a new firearm.
1921	The law requiring permits to acquire new guns is repealed for citizens, remains for foreigners.
1932-1933	Canada’s first mandatory minimum sentence is introduced – two years for possession of a handgun or concealable firearm while committing an offence. Punishment for unlawful carrying a handgun outside the home or place of business increases from three months to a maximum five years.
1934	Registration of handguns is introduced, with a record of the owner’s name, address and type of weapon kept by the RCMP or local police. There is no centralized record keeping.
1939	Handgun permits, which previously did not expire, now have to be re-registered every five years. It becomes a crime to alter serial numbers.
1950	The Criminal Code is amended to remove the requirement to renew firearm registration certificates
1951	The RCMP centralizes the firearm registry. The two-year mandatory minimum sentence created in 1932-33 is repealed.
1968-1969	Categories of 'firearm,' 'restricted weapon' and 'prohibited weapon' are created. Police are given the power to search for and seize firearms with a warrant if they believe possession poses a safety risk.
1976	A bill introduces new offences and stricter penalties for criminal misuse of firearms, the prohibition of fully automatic firearms and a licensing system that includes a requirement that applicants provide statements of their fitness from two guarantors. The bill fails.
1978-1979	Firearms Acquisition Certificates, Firearms and Ammunition Business Permits and provincial Chief Firearms Officers are introduced. Individuals can no longer carry a restricted weapon to protect property. Mandatory minimum sentences return with a 1-14 year consecutive sentence for the use of, rather than possession of, a firearm in an indictable offence.
1991-1994	A 28-day waiting period, more detailed background check and mandatory safety training requirement is introduced for Firearms Acquisition Certificate applications. Storage regulations are defined and large capacity magazines are prohibited.
1995	The 1995 Firearms Act introduces new licensing, storage and transport requirements. It also requires the creation of a long-gun registry. The government predicts the registry will cost taxpayers $119 million.
2001	The National Weapons Enforcement Support Team (NWEST) is created to support law enforcement in combating gun trafficking.
2002	The Auditor General reports the cost of the long gun registry will reach $1-billion by 2005.
2006	Conservative Leader Stephen Harper becomes Prime Minister; vows to end the long gun registry.
2008	Canada enacts three year mandatory minimum sentences for a first offence of possession of a loaded prohibited gun, five years for a repeat offence.
2010	The Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police, the Canadian Police Association and the Canadian Association of Police Boards appear together before Parliament to defend the long gun registry.
2012	The long gun registry is abolished and all registration records are ordered to be destroyed.
2013	The Ontario Court of Appeal rules that the mandatory minimum sentences for possession of a prohibited gun introduced in 2008 are unconstitutional.
2014	The Supreme Court of Canada upholds the Ontario Supreme Court’s decision; striking down the federal government’s mandatory minimum sentence for gun crimes.

SOURCES

History of Firearms Control in Canada: Up to and Including the Firearms Act
http://www.rcmp-grc.gc.ca/cfp-pcaf/pol-leg/hist/con-eng.htm

Brief History of Gun Control in Canada
Canadian Shooting Sports Association
http://www.cdnshootingsports.org/briefhistoryofguncontrolincana.html

CBC
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/timeline-the-gun-registry-debate-1.786548

LEARN MORE ABOUT THE GUN CONTROL DEBATE AT THESE SITES

Canadian Shooting Sports: A national gun owners association and lobby group, CSSA supports and promotes all manner of shooting sports and is politically active to preserve Canada’s long firearms tradition.

Canada’s National Firearms Association: The country’s largest gun rights lobby group with 80,000 members. Based in Edmonton.

The National Rifle Association of America: Founded in 1871, the NRA has more than 5-million members and is one of the most influential political lobby groups in the U.S.

Canadiangunnutz: With 120,000 member and 8 million posts, Canadiangunnutz is a popular and often heated discussion forum about gun laws.

The Coalition for Gun Control: Founded in the wake of the Montreal Massacre, the Coalition for Gun Control supports research, public education and legislation to reduce gun death, injury and crime.

The Law Center To Prevent Gun Violence: Tracks and analyzes local, state and federal gun laws in the U.S. and provides legal assistance to communities trying to strengthen gun laws.

Everytown For Gun Safety: A U.S. national coalition of gun violence survivors, advocates and politicians working to raise awareness and increase gun control regulation.

FACTS & FIGURES

RCMP: The Royal Canadian Mounted Police site offers facts, figures and regulations related to guns laws in Canada.

Gunpolicy.org : Facts on gun violence, gun laws and the small arms trade, broken down by country and region worldwide.

Center for American Progress: This Washington-based think tank provides research and analysis on U.S. gun laws and issues.

Pew Research Center: The Pew Research Centre is a nonpartisan think tank that conducts polls, research and media analysis on major issues, including gun control.

Women Against Gun Control: A Utah-based group that collects stories of civilians using guns to defend themselves against criminals.

The American Right To Bear Arms Organization: links to pro-gun research and opinion as well as information about local, regional and federal gun laws.

WATCH THESE COMEDIANS WADE IN ON BOTH SIDES OF THE DEBATE

Australian comic Jim Jeffries

NYC radio djays Greg “Opie” Hughes and Anthony Cumia

RESEARCH ANALYSIS ON CAUSAL FACTORS ASSOCIATED WITH GUN VIOLENCE

Download the full study
by Scot Wortley and Akwasi Owusu-bempah, University of Toronto, Centre for Criminology and Sociolegal Studies.

Levels of gun violence vary across regional, national, and international jurisdictions. Recent media attention drawn to mass shootings in the United States has renewed interest in firearm related violence and death. The United States experiences approximately 30,000 firearm related deaths and suicides a year. Nevertheless, for the past two decades, researchers have had difficulty in conducting research in this area following a moratorium on funding from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (as advocated for by the National Rifle Association). This is now set to change as President Barack Obama has released a national plan to reduce gun violence and re-instituted funding to facilitate research on gun violence prevention. Available evidence indicates that the availability of guns (both in the home and “on the person”) contribute to the prevalence of firearm related violence. Effective measures to reduce gun violence include prevention measures, such as poverty and gang reduction strategies as well as targeted enforcement by the police. However, as research has been limited by a funding freeze, our knowledgebase has been limited also. Several areas of future research on gun violence prevention have been identified. These include identifying the causes of gun violence (such as the impacts of mental health, video games, violent media images), developing a better understanding of how and when firearms are used in violent death, identifying appropriate prevention strategies to reduce gun violence and translating said findings into effective policy.

This annotated select bibliography on the gun violence reduction strategies was a collaborative project by PhD candidate Akwasi Owusu-Bempah, professor Scot Wortley, five of their undergraduate criminology students and the Centre of Criminology’s librarian. The scope of the bibliography included selected, academic, multidisciplinary, peer-reviewed literature from the 1970s to the present. Based on pre- determined topics formulated by the research team and Nadine Pequeneza of Hit-Play Productions, the literature search focused on materials from North America but included relevant articles from other jurisdictions. An attempt was made to include articles that contained empirically based research, either qualitative or quantitative. The search terms used are listed at the beginning of each section of the annotated bibliography.

The results of the literature search are organized into ten separate subject categories as developed at the outset of the project. The initial searches were conducted by the undergraduate students in conjunction with the Centre of Criminology Librarian. Each student was responsible for compiling two specific sections of the annotated bibliography. Once complete, the students forwarded the results of their initial searches to Owusu-Bempah who checked the material for relevance and duplication. Once reviewed, the results of the searches were sent back to the students who then wrote the annotations. Once complete, the students then forwarded their annotations back to Owusu-Bempah, who assembled and reviewed the bibliography. Professor Wortley conducted a review of the final bibliography, adding and removing material where necessary. An attempt was made to exclude duplication however in some cases articles were clearly relevant to more than one section, and some duplication exists.

The end result is a broad annotated bibliography including most of the significant literature of the twenty- first century on the effectiveness of strategies to reduce gun-related violence. Download the file for the full study.

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