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But There's No Slippery Slope...

First they registered our guns. Then they banned some of them. Now, as you've read, some in Canada want to ban all handguns:

Prime Minister Paul Martin will propose a ban on most handguns in Canada, CanWest News Service has learned.

Sources say Martin, who will make the election campaign announcement this morning, wants to choke off the supply of handguns in this country, particularly guns brought into the country illegally and those sold on the black market.

There will be some exemptions, including maintaining the right for police to carry handguns. The prime minister is also expected to announce a significant increase in resources for police to deal with the ban.

The Liberals say the thinking behind this crime strategy is that if no one is allowed to have a handgun in Canada, policing authorities will be in a better position to act on anyone who has a handgun or attempts to transport or sell a handgun.

Not everyone is amused:

Liberal Leader Paul Martin's pledge to ban handguns is getting a cool reception in parts of Saskatchewan, a province that has been leery about past moves to control firearms.

Regina gun dealer Darryl Schemenauer, who also collects guns and target-shoots, says banning handguns would change his life.

He says he could lose a lot of his business at his store, TNT Gunworks. He also worried he could lose some of his prized possessions, like his hand-built Colt handgun, worth $3,500.

"There's no chance, I think, that I'm going to hand that handgun in," he said.

Martin made the announcement earlier this week in a Toronto neighbourhood plagued by gunfire in recent months.

"Handguns will be banned," he said. "They are used to threaten people, they're used to intimidate them, they're used to kill people."

However, Saskatchewan Justice Minister Frank Quennell was not buying Martin's pitch, saying banning handguns wouldn't change life in this province.

"We don't have many homicides involving guns in Saskatchewan and certainly don't have many homicides involving handguns in Saskatchewan," said the NDP cabinet minister.

But wait! Even the gun grabbers say it isn't the guns:

Police officers and law enforcement agents across Canada agree gun violence must be stopped. But those involved in the day-to-day fight are unconvinced the Liberals' proposed handgun ban will solve the problem.

It is, at best, a step in the right direction, said Dave Wilson, president of the Toronto Police Association.

[...]

"Gangs are highly motivated and handguns are easily concealed," said Wendy Cukier, a professor at Ryerson University and the president of the coalition for gun control. "There's been a lot of media attention that suggests there's suddenly an epidemic of gun violence when in fact it's a particular form of gun violence that has grown, while other kinds of gun violence have decreased quite dramatically."

She says tough federal laws have reduced firearms in Canadian homes, making it less likely they will be used to commit crimes of passion. But because handguns are mostly used by criminals, police say strict laws have been unable to stop their proliferation. Many cite the United Kingdom as an example: Following the shooting deaths of 16 children in a schoolyard massacre in 1996, Britain banned the sale of handguns. But five years after the ban, the number of crimes involving handguns doubled, from 2,636 in 1997 to 5,871 in 2002.