Item - 2019.EX6.7

The Executive Committee recommends that:  

1.  City Council reiterate its requests to the Government of Canada to:

a.  ban the sale of handguns in the City of Toronto;

b.  prohibit the availability, sale, possession and use of handguns, assault rifles and semi-automatic firearms in Canada, with the exception of the Canadian Armed Forces, police services or other entity that is authorized to possess firearms with legal obligations imposed by the municipal, provincial and federal governments;

c.  require firearms dealers to record the licence number, make, model and serial number of all firearms sold and subject these records to annual inspection so that police services can inspect records as needed to trace firearms used in crimes;

d.  create more stringent transport provisions for restricted firearms to limit transport outside of direct transfers between their place of storage and approved destination;

e.  implement tougher screening for mental health and intimate partner violence issues for licensed gun owners and those seeking to acquire firearm permits;

f.  create gun repositories that require all long guns and hand guns to be locked up and only retrieved if and where there is a need for hunting or going to the range for target practice, such repositories to be developed in a private-public partnership;

g.  direct more resources to tackle domestic firearm trafficking, specifically targeting large single purchasers of firearms;

h.  control guns coming into Canada along the American and Canadian border; and

i.  include tougher penalties including mandatory-minimum sentences for gun traffickers.

2.  City Council reiterate its requests to the Government of Ontario to:

a.  ban the sale of handgun ammunition in the City of Toronto; and

b.  legislate a suspension of the Alcohol and Gaming Commission liquor licence for establishments where the Toronto Police Service has evidence of multiple gun-related offences occurring on the premises.

City Council through its adoption of CC44.14, MM44.6, MM38.8 and MM19.41 requested staff to report back on 17 directions related to firearms and ammunition in Toronto, including a request to review the City's legislative powers, by-law and/or policy initiatives to regulate the sale of handguns and/or the sale, storage and use of ammunition; and to assess the regulation of fireworks to see if similar regulations can be used to regulate or limit the sale of ammunition (Attachment 1).

In preparing this report, staff reviewed the federal and provincial legislative framework that regulates the sale, storage and use of firearms (including handguns) and ammunition, past staff reports and the relevant practices of 18 other Canadian local governments to explore what powers may be available to the City to regulate handguns and ammunition.  

The regulation of handguns and ammunition is within federal jurisdiction, with implementation responsibilities delegated to Provinces, and to some extent within the property and civil rights jurisdiction of the Provinces. Within the current legislative framework, there is little jurisdictional room for the City to act without conflicting with or frustrating the current federal and provincial regulation of firearms and ammunition. The exceptions to this are the authority delegated by the Province to the City to regulate the discharge of firearms, and the recognition of City by-laws related to shooting ranges in the federal Firearms Act. Within its limited authority, the City has prohibited the discharge of firearms outside of shooting ranges, and prohibited new shooting ranges in Toronto through a zoning by-law amendment.

Given the legislative framework, the City has also requested action by the federal and provincial governments to limit the supply of handguns and ammunition within City boundaries. In 2018, Council requested a number of federal and provincial legislative amendments, including a ban on handguns, assault rifles and semi-automatic firearms. This report recommends that key requests by Council to the federal and provincial governments are reiterated.

If Toronto and other municipalities were to be given the authority to ban handguns and assault-style weapons, it would likely be done through a delegation of authority from the federal government to the Province. In turn, the Province would authorize municipalities to make the decision to ban these firearms within their boundaries.

This report also includes information requested by City Council on the City's approach to businesses with known incidents of gun violence, the implementation of a Toronto gun buy-back program, the seize-and-destroy procedure used for confiscated guns, information about gun clubs with shooting ranges, and an update on the acquisition of ShotSpotter technology. This information is provided in the report.