Ross: Would an American President have the nerve to freeze handgun ownership?

When the story popped onto my screen, I thought it would immediately be the top headline on every major news site. But it was a third of the way down on the New York Times site, it was only a very small sidebar headline in the Wall Street Journal, and it was nowhere on the Washington Post’s site.

And even though it’s a Canadian story, it wasn’t even at the top of the CBC website!

So, in case you missed it, here’s Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau doing something that no American President would ever have the nerve to do:

“We’re introducing legislation to implement a national freeze on handgun ownership. What this means is that it will no longer be possible to buy, sell, transfer, or import handguns anywhere in Canada. In other words, we’re capping the market,” Trudeau said.

Can you imagine an American politician doing that? Even I’ve never considered an option that extreme. I’ve never come close to suggesting such a thing in any commentary.

But whatever side you’re on, you have to admit, Trudeau isn’t pistol-whipped the way so many American politicians are.

And he didn’t stop at freezing handguns. The bill would also limit rifle magazines to five rounds, and existing magazines must be permanently altered.

Bang Bang Bang Bang Bang. That’s it. Then you have to reload.

And if you’re wondering “what about AR-15-type rifles,” those were banned two years ago. All 1500 models. Can’t sell them; can’t shoot them. And the government will soon start buying them back. All of them. I bet Ukraine would be happy to take them.

But the part that has me excited is that this sets up a real-world test.

We are told by gun rights supporters that if guns are outlawed, only outlaws will have guns, the implication being, less guns equals more homicides.

Canada’s rate of firearm homicides is 1 per 200,000. About one-eighth the rate in the US. But Canada’s gun violence rate has been growing lately.

So, let the experiment begin! If the gun rights people are correct, once the Candian gun freeze is in place, Canada should see its homicide rate skyrocket as illegally-armed bad guys open fire on the law-abiding unarmed good guys.

However, if that doesn’t happen – it would mean fewer guns do not equal more crime. And it would also mean that the blame for America’s embarrassing homicide rate – isn’t on the NRA or on the guns themselves, but on our timid politicians.

May the smartest country win.

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