Outrage Grows Over Bystander Shootings

Outrage Grows Over Bystander Shootings
Friday January 18, 2008
CityNews.ca Staff

With yet another innocent victim falling to reckless gunfire on the streets of Toronto, the call for a ban on handguns is gaining momentum and Mayor David Miller is one of the most vocal proponents of a plan to rid the streets of the deadly weapons.

"These tragedies happen simply because of the easy availability of handguns," Miller declared Friday. "And we can prevent this kind of atrocity if we get at the guns."

Adding more fuel to the fire are the startling finding from a 2006 federal government called, "Youth Weapons And Violence In Toronto And Montreal." (Full report below.)

Seventy-seven per cent of students in Toronto claimed "some" or "a few" students carried weapons in school, and 33 per cent perceiving guns to be a "very or somewhat serious" problem in their learning institutions.

"That's an alarming rate," commented Louise Russo, who was paralyzed after getting caught in the crossfire of an attempted gangland hit.

"There just doesn't seem to be any more respect for life.