Tighter laws tough sell as Canada faces rise in shootings

A girls lays flowers at a shrine to victims of Friday's shooting in Fredericton, Canada. [Photo/Agencies]

TORONTO－Rising violence in Canada has prompted calls for the federal government to tighten gun laws but tougher regulations could cause a political backlash in a country where 2 million people are licensed to own a firearm.

In 2016, 223 people were murdered with a gun, a 23 percent increase from 2015 and the highest rate since 2005, according to Statistics Canada.

One of the deadliest shooting sprees so far this year took place on Friday when four people were shot to death in Fredericton. Weeks earlier, a gunman opened fire on a bustling street in Toronto, killing two and injuring 13 before turning the gun on himself.

In Fredericton, a commonly available "long gun" such as a rifle or shotgun was used, police said on Monday, adding that the suspect had a permit to use it. In Toronto the gunman used a handgun. It is not clear how the suspects obtained the guns.

Canada's firearm homicide rate of 0.61 per 100,000 people is about 10 times greater than the rate in the United Kingdom. In the United States, by contrast, four in every 100,000 residents are killed with a gun, or almost 13,000 annually.

Canada's federal government introduced gun laws earlier this year that would require retailer record-keeping and beef up background checks. The government is open to considering tougher ones after Toronto called for a ban on handguns in the wake of the shooting, said Bill Blair, the minister charged with tackling gun violence.

"We're prepared to look at any measure that will reduce gun violence," he said in an interview.

But any move by the Liberal government to more heavily regulate ownership could prompt a backlash by the opposition Conservatives, who tend to do well in rural areas where hunting is popular and many farmers have guns.

National registry

Canada requires residents to obtain a license and pass a safety course to buy a gun. According to the Firearms Commissioner, more than 2 million people have such licenses in a country of 36 million.

There is a national registry of handguns and other restricted and prohibited guns. The government ended a similar registry for long guns such as rifles in 2012 due to its unpopularity with gun owners and conservative voters.

Under proposed legislation, retailers would keep records of everyone who buys a long gun.

The National Firearms Association, a lobby group similar to the US National Rifle Association, said it would campaign against the Liberals' proposed legislation, which the Conservatives said "treats law-abiding firearms owners as criminals".