9mm pistol and bullets (Photo 102980961 © Jiri Hera | Dreamstime.com)

By Kevin Rothwell

Bill won't stop gun crime

Vernon council opposes download of handgun control

May 28, 2021 | 5:00 AM

Vernon council doesn’t want anything to do with gun control, and will let the federal government know.

The federal government introduced Bill C-21 in February, which among other measures, would to empower municipalities to ban handguns.

Vernon councillor Scott Anderson brought a notice of motion asking that gun control legislation remain a federal responsibility.

“It is like having a dry town surrounded by liquor stores. A municipal ban would create a patchwork of bylaws in neighbouring jurisdictions that would be impossible to enforce and waste already limited resources,” Anderson told Vernon council.

In the rationale for the motion, he noted that firearms legislation has always been a matter of exclusive federal jurisdiction.

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The bill was intended to help combat the increasing use of handguns in gang shootings in major cities like Toronto and Vancouver. Critics point out that criminals will still be able to get guns.

“My husband, and both my boys, have their firearms licenses, and it was a rigorous process for all three of them to get it,” Coun. Kari Gares said. “I’m definitely not in favour of having this patchwork of bylaws, and I think it is important to be pre-emptive.”

A letter from the mayor to the federal government will ask that gun control remain a federal responsibility.