The Regina Police Service is dealing with more gun crimes than they’ve seen in recent memory.
According to mid-year numbers from RPS, gun-related offences are on the rise with a sharp increase over the last ten years.
It is believed that many assaults were upgraded to attempted murder charges due to the use of guns. There have been 23 attempted murders in 2019 so far.
Chief of Police Evan Bray explained how there should be stricter penalties for illegal use of a firearm.
“There needs to be serious consequences and we need to have ways of tracing firearms in this country. I think that’s a very important thing,” said Bray. “Often times it’s very resource intensive and it costs a lot of money.”
However the chief added just because you issue a ban on guns doesn’t mean you won’t have guns.
He believes there needs to be a few different angles to find a solution to the problem:
- Legislation – giving police different laws they can enforce;
- Holding offenders accountable for their actions; and
- Research into causes – why are the firearms being used.
Another method they’ve consistently turned towards is a gun amnesty program RPS has used over the last few years.
“We’ve done a gun amnesty to try and get what we call ‘unwanted guns’ out of the hands of citizens who have these firearms legally but don’t want them anymore, so we can prevent them from falling into the hands of criminals.”
Toronto Mayor John Tory has recently called for a handgun ban in the Ontario capital due to the high number of shootings in the city.
Bray said Regina doesn’t often see handguns being used, but rather rifles and modified shotguns.
