Dear reader,
Gun violence is on the rise across the country, and it’s hitting the GTA hard. Toronto has seen at least 395 shootings this year, a stark increase from the 277 incidents in 2023. Last week, in an attempt to curb the violence, the Liberal government doubled down on its gun control measures, banning hundreds more firearm models and expanding its assault-weapon buyback program.
While some advocates say the new measures don’t go far enough to keep our streets safe, others are calling them an overreach, claiming they wrongfully target lawful gun owners. As Toronto Life writer Luc Rinaldi put it, these opposing viewpoints make gun violence an “impossible problem” to solve.
Last year, Rinaldi told the story of two senseless—and inextricably linked—deaths that cut to the core of the gun control debate: the drive-by shooting of a Scarborough teenager named Caden Francis, and the police killing of the gunsmith who crafted the weapon that killed Francis.
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