Motz considers the Liberals’ new gun legislation a failure for public safety

MP Glen Motz Ottawa, Ontario, on 18 October, 2017. © HOC-CDC Credit: Christian Diotte, House of Commons Photo Services

By Justin Seward

Commentator/Courier

The federal government announced the introduction of a new gun control legislation on Feb. 16.
The amendment would allow to make communities safer while at the same time respecting law-abiding gun owners.
The proposed legislature would combat intimate partner and gender-based violence and self-harm involving firearms by creating a “red flag” and “yellow flag” laws.
“ These laws would allow people, such as concerned friends or relatives to apply to court for an immediate removal of an individual’s firearms, or to ask a Chief Firearms officer to suspend and review an individual’s license to own firearms,” as read in the news release.
If the legislation is passed, it would fight gun smuggling and trafficking by increasing criminal penalties, support a safer communities with those that ban handguns through bylaws restricting storage and transportation in their jurisdiction, giving young people the opportunities and resources needed to avoid criminal behaviour, the complete prohibition of assault-style fire arms and protect Canadians from gun violence.
“Too many Canadians have been killed or injured because of gun violence, and we need to take every reasonable step to stop more Canadians from suffering the same fate. These concrete measures we’re announcing today build on actions already taken to address some of the most serious firearms safety issues and are part of our government’s detailed firearms strategy that will help make our communities safer for everyone,” said Bill Blair, Canada’s minister of public safety.
“It’s again another failure,” said Medicine Hat-Cardston-Warner MP Glen Motz.
“They (federal government) are ignoring the real problem and their focus is completely misguided on this issue significantly. In the midst of pandemic, this Liberal government, is changing the channel, trying to take people’s minds off of their own failures of how they so miserably messed up this pandemic response—that now they’re going to throw some legislation out on Bill C-21 on firearms.”
Motz said you’d think the legislation would be something that would address public safety—but again they’ve missed the mark.
“There’s no statistics to support again what they’re doing—like the May 1, 2020 order of council gun ban,” said Motz.
“The vast majority of gun crimes committed in this country are within legally obtained firearms. So taking firearms away from law-abiding citizens does nothing to stop criminals and gang members who obtain their guns illegally.”
The Conservatives will always support common sense firearm policies that keeps guns out of the hands of dangerous people and that’s never been an issue, said Motz.
The Liberals are considered a “lazy government” to Motz.
“The other thing is they have a lazy government that downloads responsibility for something to other levels of government,” said Motz
“Without consulting the provinces, because if the federal government had consulted the provinces , they would have recognized it’s the provincial authority all over municipalities, not federal. So by (Prime Minister Justin) Trudeau standing up and saying we’re going to give municipalities the option of instituting their own hand gun ban, is laughable.”
According to Stats Canada, firearms were used in over 40 per cent of homicides in Canada in 2019.
It was for that reason that last May the Government of Canada banned`1,500 models and variants of assault-style firearms and some of their components.