Gun violence: what’s the answer?

I would like to start by extending my condolences and deepest sympathy to the family of Jordan Manners, the student who was shot and killed in his Toronto high school on Wednesday.

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On Wednesday, fourteen-year Jordan Manners was shot and killed inside his high school.

We are fortunate that this kind of violence is not common in Canadian schools. Still, there have been thirteen reported incidents of shootings, eight involving fatalities(*), in schools over the past three decades. One is too many.

• May 23, 2007: C.W. Jefferys Collegiate Institute, Toronto.*
  
• September 2006: Dawson College, Montreal.*
  
• April 2000: Cairine Wilson High School, Orleans, Ont.
  
• April 1999: W.R. Myers High School, Taber, Alberta.*
  
• February 1999: Woodland Elementary School, Verdun, Quebec.
  
• October 1997: language school for immigrants in Montreal.*
  
• October 1994: Brockton High School, Toronto.
  
• June 1993: Gladstone Secondary School, Vancouver.
  
• August 24, 1992: Concordia University, Montreal.*
  
• February 1990: General Brock High School, Burlington, Ontario.
  
• December 1989: Ecole polytechnique, Montreal.*
  
• October 1978: Sturgeon Creek Regional Secondary School, Winnipeg.*
  
• May 1975: Centennial Secondary School, Brampton, Ontairo.*

As well, incidents of gun-related violence seem to be escalating in recent years, prompting renewed calls for tougher penalties and stricter gun controls.

Toronto mayor David Miller states that while present laws make handgun ownership illegal, there are loopholes to allow target shooters and gun collectors to legally own the firearms. He is insisting that the federal government close those loopholes, and stated that the flow of guns coming in from the US needs to be stopped.

According to Miller, about half of the illegal handguns seized in Toronto were stolen from collectors, while the other half are smuggled in from the US.

While I understand Miller’s position, I believe it to be unrealistic. What he is proposing, essentially, is banning handguns for all but law enforcement, security, and military personnel. It sounds good, in theory, but isn’t it possible that a handgun could be stolen from the home of any of these individuals, too?

The sad fact is that bad guys will get guns, somehow.

I do agree that the flow of weapons across the border needs to be stopped. As we know, however, smuggling is big business, and crooks will go to great lengths to smuggle guns into Canada.

We also know that both tourist and commercial traffic is already severely bottlenecked at most major border crossings. Increased vigilance at border inspection stations would only increase delays. This is not to say that such delays wouldn’t be worthwhile, but the public may not be very tolerant of them.

So what is the answer?

Ultimately, we need to examine the root cause of the violence that is occurring in the first place. While I support stiffer penalties for gun-related crime, punishment of any sort is only a bandage on an already festering wound.

That guns are being used now is only a further symptom of an existing problem.

There have been school yard fights for as long as there have been school yards. That doesn’t make them right, nor does labeling them a ‘rite of passage’ make such behaviour any more acceptable. But the fact is that, especially with teenagers, personal conflicts often results in fights.

Unfortunately, school yard fights are seldom the bare-knuckle fisticuffs that many of us remember. Over the last few decades weapons of various description — pipes, bats, chains, knives, and guns — have become increasingly common.

At the same time the teen gang sub-culture, and gun culture, has increased in Canada. Of course, not all fights — or shootings — are gang related. The increased use of handguns by children, however, is disturbing.

I recall, many years ago, there was an OPP officer in my neighbourhood who had a son about my age. When the neighbourhood boys went to play in his yard, we were not allowed to bring our toy guns with us (we played "Cops-and-Robbers" and "Army"). I questioned him about this, and he explained that even though ours were toys, he did not believe that guns should ever be thought of as toys. At the time I did not really understand. I do now.

I remember getting into a fight in Grade 5. I was the "new kid," having just moved to the neighbourhood and transferred in from another school. While I would have preferred to just quietly assume my place at the bottom of the school’s pecking order, the other boys in my class apparently felt the need to prove why they ranked higher than I did.

For the first few weeks there were taunts and scuffles, but nothing too serious. Then, one day, "Lenny" called me out to a fight. Being rather a scrawny wimp at the time I tried to just ignore him and make my way home, but he wasn’t having any of it. He grabbed me and threw a few punches.

At the time (1970-71) book bags, in the shape of briefcases, were somewhat popular. I swung mine in a wide arc and connected with Lenny’s chin. He staggered back a few steps, then reached out his hand and called a truce. We were good friends from that day on, and I became accepted by the others.

I’ve run into Lenny a few times over the years, and he always reminds me of the time I clocked him with my book bag.

When I was in high school, fights would start because someone bumped into someone else, or talked to someone else’s girl friend. But now, with kids carrying guns "just in case," and bringing them into schools, that could get a person shot.

Then there are the random street shootings — such as the Boxing Day gun battle in which fifteen-year old Jane Creba was caught in the crossfire and killed.

Let’s not think we’re immune from this sort of violence here in the Sault, and that this sort of thing only happens in the big cities like Toronto. The folks of Taber, Alberta, thought that at one time, too.

I said earlier that punishment is only a bandage solution. But just as a bandage and direct pressure is necessary to the stop a wound from bleeding so, too, may stricter punishment be needed to stem these incidents of gun violence.

Many US states have a zero tolerance for gun-related crimes. If you use a gun during the commission of a crime — even if it is not fired — then jail time is automatic.

Perhaps something similar should be introduced here in Canada.

As I have said, punishment alone is not the answer. We also need to find out why our youth are being driven to this level of violence, and somehow address this problem.

But while we’re trying to figure that out, we need to get tough on those who would take a gun in their hands and consider using it.

Perhaps, and I sincerely hope, this would have a deterrent effect on others.