Amidst a pandemic that has taken 70,000 lives and devastated the economy, Americans could be forgiven for failing to notice that just two weeks ago, our northern neighbor suffered its deadliest-ever mass shooting. A gunman rampaged through rural Nova Scotia, killing 22 people over a 14-hour period.
The crime felt, well, very American. The government response did not.
There were no bold executive promises followed by legislative half measures. No Senate filibusters. No pledges to stand up to the gun lobby followed by the inevitable folding in the face of its pressure.
Instead, Friday, recognizing that the de facto weapons of war have no place in civilized society, Canadian PM Justin Trudeau banned more than 1,500 models of military-style firearms. The regulatory ban covers sale, transport or use of such weapons with amnesty for current owners of at least two years.
This is the way a sane government reacts to a bloodbath. Just as New York state passed a sweeping gun safety law soon after the Sandy Hook massacre. Just as New Zealand outlawed many firearms less than a month after shootings at a mosque and an Islamic center that slaughtered 51.
Meanwhile, Congress has failed even to require universal background checks on all guns, much less reinstate a long-ago lapsed ban on assault rifles and high-capacity magazines.
Yes, America has a Second Amendment that protects gun possession. No, that’s never been an excuse for letting civilians stockpile high-powered arsenals that enable murder of dozens with a few squeezes of a trigger.
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