In spite of many mass shootings in this country where the primary weapon used was a military-style assault weapon, the federal government (primarily Republicans) has absolutely refused to ban them.Many of those Republicans will say that they don't want to violate the Constitution with such a ban. But that argument is a lie. The Supreme Court has ruled that it is constitutional for the government to ban military-style weapons -- and when the assault weapons were banned in the past, they specifically said that ban was constitutional. The truth is that those GOP congressmen have been bought and paid for by the NRA and the gun manufacturers through campaign donations -- and they consider those donations more important than saving American lives (which aa assault weapons ban would do).
But Canada does not have the same disingenuous stance. After a recent mass shooting spree in that country, the Canadian government has acted. They are banning all military-style assault weapons in their country.
Here is how Amanda Coletta reports it in The Washington Post:
The Canadian government on Friday announced an immediate ban on some 1,500 makes and models of “military-grade” assault weapons, including two weapons used by the gunman who killed 22 people in rural Nova Scotia during the country’s deadliest mass shooting last month.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said there will be a two-year amnesty period for current gun owners to comply with the prohibition. He said legislation will be drafted in the coming months to provide “fair compensation” to them.
“There is no use and no place for such weapons in Canada,” Trudeau said in a news conference in Ottawa on Friday that began with him listing several mass shootings in the country’s history.
He said that while most firearms owners are law-abiding citizens, “you don’t need an AR-15 to bring down a deer.”
