What's the root cause of gun violence in our community?

Ontario NDP MPP Chris Glover joined members of the Zero Gun Violence Movement, and community members to mark the second National Day Against Gun Violence and bring solutions that address the root cause of gun violence in our communities.  

The first Friday of each June is the National Day Against Gun Violence. 

This week gun violence sent a local teen to the hospital with with serious injuries after a shooting in a North Bay schoolyard. A 21-year-old North Bay man is in custody.

See: Concern rising over gun incidents in North Bay

“The biggest predictor of an episode of gun violence is a previous episode of gun violence,” said Glover. “If we don’t address the anxiety, fear, anxiety, depression, and PTSD that comes out of each act of gun violence, they feed back into the cycle.” 

Glover has introduced a motion at Queen’s Park to increase mental support, through projects such as Operation Prefrontal Cortex, and to restore the Victims of Violent Crime funding to ensure community support and prevent future incidents of gun violence.  

“Physicians see up close the devastating and lifelong consequences of gun violence on victims’ physical and mental health,” said Dr. Najma Ahmed, co-Chair of Canadian Doctors for Protection from Guns. "This is a public health challenge Ontario must confront, and MPP Glover’s motion offers a constructive path for doing so." 

“I survived the mass shooting that took place on the Danforth on July 22, 2018, and I learned just how much wounds stretch far deeper than the physical impact on the body." said Ali Demircan, spokesperson for Danforth Families for Safe Communities.  "Sadly, the support systems to help us deal with the aftermath, and for our loved ones to deal with the aftermath, do not seem to exist. We desperately need the provincial government to take a comprehensive public health approach to gun violence in Ontario, one that invests far more in counselling and programs that help victims and their families to recover.” 

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, today issued the following statement on the National Day Against Gun Violence.

“Last year, we made the first Friday of each June the National Day Against Gun Violence. Today, on its first commemoration, we are raising awareness about gun violence prevention, remembering the lives we lost, and advancing our work to make communities safer.

“We’re taking generational action to stop gun violence. In December, we passed the toughest gun and handgun control legislation in Canada’s history. We’re increasing penalties for gun smuggling and trafficking, implementing a national freeze on handguns, taking away firearms from those perpetrating domestic violence, and giving police and border services more tools to tackle these crime networks.

“Weapons made for the battlefield have no place in our communities. That’s why, in 2020, we banned over 1,500 models of assault-style firearms and their variants. With new investments in our buyback program through Budget 2024, we’re taking them off our streets. And through the Building Safer Communities Fund, we’re addressing the root causes of gun violence to prevent crime before it starts and supporting at-risk youth. We will do whatever it takes to make our communities safer and more prosperous."

BayToday reached out to Mayor Peter Chirico who sits on the Police Board, and Police Chief Daryl Longworth to discuss community concerns over the latest local shooting. Mayor Chirico refused our request and Chief Longworth did not respond.