Senator Yussuff: Well, I don’t want to comment on what a front-line officer is saying from his perspective. I don’t know the context upon which he is reflecting on what he has said. I respect his opinion in that regard.

I think you and I would agree there are many illegal handguns coming into our country at many of our borders. It has been identified, and the government has allocated significant resources to help our front-line officers deal with that.

Regarding handguns in general and what the government wants to do, municipalities in general and urban areas have been calling for the government to take action on reducing the number of guns in their communities. I think this bill reflects that consensus to a large extent in large urban areas across the country. They want to see a reduction of guns in their communities. They recognize, yes, there are illegal guns, but sometimes legal guns end up causing harm, such as in domestic violence or causing harm to individuals in the context of those who are struggling with mental issues using their own handguns or other guns to inflict harm upon themselves.

There are some challenges that we have to recognize and deal with in the broader context of guns. In no way will sport shooters be impacted by this bill. It lays out provisions regarding how sport shooters can continue to do their craft. There is recognition of how they will be able to continue accessing their guns and using them to pursue their sport, of which provisions were enhanced in the other place before the bill came to the Senate.