RCMP commissioner 'not sure' handgun ban is the answer to gun violence

A recent spate of shootings is driving a swelling chorus of calls for a handgun ban but the nation's top Mountie says she isn't convinced it's the answer.

On Monday, Montreal's city council will debate whether topush for a federal ban on handguns. The motion before council calls on Montreal to demand the Liberal government ramp up the restrictions inits BillC-71, tabled last March, by prohibiting civilians from possessing assault rifles and handguns.

"I'm not sure if a complete ban is the answer or tweaking the legislation to ensure more accountability. That's definitely something we need to study," RCMP Commissioner Brenda Lucki told Chris Hall, host ofCBC'sThe House.

"But the bottom line is one life taken by one handgun is one life too many, so we definitely need to look at alternative ways of dealing with that situation."

The Montreal motion cites thePolytechniquemassacreof 1989, the 1992ConcordiaUniversity massacre, theshooting at Dawson Collegein 2006 and theQuebec City mosque shootingin 2017.

It follows a motion Toronto city council put forward in the wake of the deadly shooting on the city's bustling Danforth Avenue last month. Julianna Kozis, 10, and Reese Fallon, 18,were both shot and killed when 29-year-old Faisal Hussain opened fire in the city's Greektown neighbourhood. Thirteen others were injured.

Toronto city council adopted a motion that asks Ottawato ban the sale of handguns within city limits.

'Handguns aredefinitelyan issue'

The federal minister in charge of organized crime reduction has said he's open to considering a banto help tackle gun violence.

"I think it's important that we be open to every consideration," saidMinister of Border Security and Organized Crime Reduction Bill Blair.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said his government is listening to both cities.

"We are going to listen very attentively to, obviously, what the city council in Toronto has done [and] what Montreal might do next," he said earlier this week.

His comments came in the wake of a more recent eruption of gun violence the shooting in Fredericton last week that claimed the lives of two police officers and twocivilians.

Lucki, who took the RCMP's helm back in April, said thepresence of handguns in Canadian communities issomethingher officers keep in mind onthe job.

"In some of the bigger areas that wepolice, handguns aredefinitelyan issue and it'ssomething that our members are always aware of," she said.

"Every night I go to sleep, I just hope my members aren't complacent and take every one of those calls seriously."

A2016report from the RCMP's Commissioner of Firearms found there were morethan a million restricted and prohibited firearms across the country.