Toronto Mayor David Miller, just launched a national campaign calling on Canada’s federal government to ban the private ownership of handguns. Why now? I think many reasons but mostly, he could use some good press for a change. He has been criticized by many for raising taxes and temporarily shutting down community centers in that standoff between him and a significant portion of city council in September. His council was described by The Star as “petty, divided, and stubborn” and the mayors ability to hold it together came into question. Today he has managed to recover pretty well and recently won some victories by getting 300 million from Harper’s new budget for TTC, I have to admit I didn’t see that reversal of positions coming from conservatives but around possible elections, miracles do happen.

Personally, I support banning handguns and I think most Canadians agree as well. When was the last time anyone went “hunting” with a handgun? There just isn’t any useful or productive purpose for handguns in our society. However, the costs to society are beyond quantifiable measurements. Opponents will try to argue that there are more murders committed with other weapons and so banning handguns won’t have a significant effect. However, that just means banning handguns alone isn’t enough. Societal problems of poverty, gangs, and crime must also be dealt with more effectively. Creating appealing after school programs that educate and discourage gang participation for youth is just one example. I remember in my teenage years, playing soccer for my high school team kept me out of all kinds of trouble.

I was also pleasantly surprised to see Miller use YouTube as a way to promote his campaign, most Canadian politicians haven’t really caught on with the media revolution yet.