Ottawa Eyes Tougher Screening of Gun Owners for Mental Health, Violence

[MikePal]

Looks like those who said the Liberals weren't going to anything, got it wrong...

The Liberals are planning to introduce legislation in coming weeks to fulfil platform promises on firearms — including a requirement for "enhanced background checks" for anyone seeking to buy a handgun or other restricted gun.

The federal memo, released under the Access to Information Act, indicates the government could go further, beefing up screening of those who already have guns "by allowing authorities to reassess licence eligibility in a more timely fashion."

Keeping guns out of the wrong hands is just one of the issues to be debated at a national meeting on gun and gang violence in Ottawa today that will include members of government, law enforcement, academia, community organizations and big-city mayors.

Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale has convened the meeting as statistics reveal troubling trends.

The number of firearm-related homicides in Canada hit 223 in 2016 — up 44 from 2015, and the third consecutive annual increase. There were 141 gang-related homicides in 2016, 45 more than the previous year. Meantime, break-and-enters to steal guns have been rising.

Take a read of the article below..lots of good information..

http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/ment...guns-1.4565450

[Gilroy]

Putting money towards gun,s and gangs a good thing,more checking for the mentally ill also good.

[jaycee]

Certain professionals such as doctors, therapists and social workers have discretion to inform police of behaviour indicating that someone might harm themselves or another individual with a gun, notes the federal memo prepared for a May 2017 meeting of the Canadian Firearms Advisory Committee, which provides advice to the government.

Under our present system, I thought they already had the right to do so.

[rossh]

All old stuff just rehashing for those that don't already know the rules . Lookin good to the uneducated for up coming election . Trying to look pro active . Interesting fact in report the upswing in deaths coincided with the upswing in gang violence . Almost even . Gangs not mental illness . Tho that could be debated too . Interesting to watch . Luck

[greatwhite]

They already check for the mentally ill. There is also talk of waiting periods for restricted weapons but again there pretty much is a waiting period for restricted as the CFO has to approve so not really much just talk to pretend to Liberals voters he is doing something. But I am happy if that is all he does. More money for guns and gang units I agree is good.

Putting money towards gun,s and gangs a good thing,more checking for the mentally ill also good.

[MikePal]

. More money for guns and gang units I agree is good.

The unfortunate thing, Gangs are related to Canada's open immigration policy..and that is a Liberal Sacred Cow, so that will not change anytime soon.

[greatwhite]

Spray paint them white maybe the Liberals won't notice.

The unfortunate thing, Gangs are related to Canada's open immigration policy..and that is a Liberal Sacred Cow, so that will not change anytime soon.

[Fox]

The unfortunate thing, Gangs are related to Canada's open immigration policy..and that is a Liberal Sacred Cow, so that will not change anytime soon.

I have to disagree here, the gang issue is tied to poverty, not necessarily immigration. Where I grew up the majority of problems with guns and gangs was poor white kids, and rich white kids who were bored.

[MikePal]

yes it is out of poverty and being disenfranchised... but that is largely immigrant youth in big cities and see illegal gang activity as a way to make money...

Major crime groups in Ottawa involve White/Irish gangs, biker gangs, Arab street gangs, and East Asian crime groups. Many other crime groups also exist, mainly Lebanese and Somali. In Ottawa, by the early twentieth century, drive-by shootings were rare and most gang activity involved narcotic distribution.

Take a look at the problem with gangs in South Keys..almost all are Somalian...

Certain neighbourhoods in Toronto have experienced gang and organized crime activity[33] including human trafficking,[34] firearm trafficking, drug trafficking, robbery,[35] and Mafia/mob activity.[36]

A police survey found that most youth gangs in Ontario and the GTA are ethnically African/Caribbean (Somali, Jamaican, Haitian, and Guyanese), Caucasian (Italian, Russian, Portuguese, Albanian, Polish, Greek, and Spanish), and South Asian (Indian, Punjabi, Pakistani, and Tamil).[37] There are also a number of Asian (Filipino, Chinese-Tibetan, Vietnamese, Cambodian, and Korean) and Latino gangs in the area. Other minor groups are biker gangs, supremacist groups, Mexican drug cartels, Middle Eastern (Persian/Afghan) gangs and Aboriginal street gangs.

The reasons....

Immigrant Youth

Some newcomers can face a number of barriers to integration into Canadian society. First generation immigrant youth can experience linguistic, acculturative, psychological and economic challenges. They may experience barriers to equitable opportunities in Canada, and encounter a wide range of obstacles and challenges in accessing services and support in the social services, education, health and justice arenas. Although second generation Canadian youth born into immigrant families, as a group, tend to do well economically, those from a visible minority background may experience significant inequalities in their educational attainment and participation in the labour market. Second generation Canadian youth may also experience sociocultural challenges with respect to competing cultural expectations, cultural identity and intercultural interactions .

Gangs typically form in communities where an accumulation of different forms of disadvantage (e.g., economic disadvantage, lack of opportunities, family disruption, racial discrimination) come together. Both the emergence and sustainability of gangs and gang membership rely on the extent to which these disadvantages are more prevalent in communities . These groups experience what Vigil (2002) called 'multiple marginality', where breakdowns of social and economic factors lead to a 'street socialization' takeover. Multiple marginality acts and reacts within populations to drive youth into the streets and immigration or migration adaption is a central part of this process. As youth undergo street socialization they may form a street subculture, namely a gang.

Commonly these gangs are organized with the specific intent of committing criminal activity for the purpose of financial gain. They are hierarchally structured with an established leadership and chain of command, and are selectively open to expanding their membership. Most gangs have initiation rituals based on violence and subject new members to screening and personal testing to confirm their solidness and loyalty. Most immigrant youth are involved in either an ethnically-based gang, or in a multicultural gang. Those associated with the latter have indicated that while their criminal gang was open to individuals of diverse ethnic backgrounds, only those from certain ethnic groups would be given a leadership role (Ngo, 2010). It should be noted however that when we assume that all ethnic gangs are alike, we lose sight of the uniqueness of groups that, while sharing criminal involvement, arise out of different contexts and conditions, are often organized differently, and vary in function and form .

https://www.publicsafety.gc.ca/cnt/r...ex-en.aspx#a13

[MikePal]

Interesting stat from the Ottawa Police:

Last December, Ottawa police arrested 13 people and seized two dozen firearms following a six-month investigation called "Project Sabotage". One of the firearms recovered by police had a 'bump stock', an illegal modification that simulates the firing characteristics of a fully automatic weapon.

Patterson said some of the weapons were stolen from lawful gun owners.

"Now we're seeing a trend of maybe 50/50, if not more domestically-sourced guns as opposed to smuggled guns from the United States," he said.