Martin's gun policy gets mixed reviews

Liberal Leader Paul Martin's call to ban all handguns is getting mixed reviews, with opposition leaders and other interests questioning its usefulness in combating crime.

Conservative Leader Stephen Harper said his party was prepared to consider anything that will get guns out of the hands of criminals.

But he said there just aren't that many handguns in Canada. The real problem, he said, is that the Liberals have failed to crack down on crime.

"They must take responsibility for the growth in gun crime that has occurred under their watch. Gun crime has spun out of control because they have failed to do anything to reduce gun crime."

NDP Leader Jack Layton would not dismiss the plan but challenged the Liberals' credibility on gun control.

"Guns have been flooding into this country from the United States and the Liberals have not taken any action."

While Saskatchewan Justice Minister Frank Quennell said the plan was irrelevant to his province, B.C Liberal Premier Gordon Campbelll offered cautious support.

"We have to be careful that we're focusing on the right things," Campbell said Thursday after speaking to a business group.

"Certainly, for me at least, it sounds like a sensible step to creating safer communities. I would want to hear from police officers across the country on how that would work."

But Ontario Attorney General Michael Bryant said Martin's plan will choke the supply.

"There is not legitimate use of handguns in civil society, " he said.

Tammy Landau, a criminologist at Ryerson University in Toronto, said the law will have little effect because most types of guns are already illegal.

"The concern is with illegal guns and this isn't going to go very far in dealing with that."

Anthony Doob, a University of Toronto criminologist, said he's skeptical that taking the additional step of a total ban would help much.

"We've got lots of laws (already)," Doob told the Canadian Press. "We've got laws about carrying, we've got laws about ownership, we've got laws about transfers of ownership."

Rev. Harry Lehotsky, an activist in Winnipeg, echoed Landau's views, saying a ban will make no difference.

"They're illegal anyway," Lehotsky said. "The cops have a million ways, reasons, to take those guns away from these guys already, so it's totally irrelevant."

Nationally, 65 per cent of firearm-related homicides in Canada last year involved a handgun, many which originated in the United States.

In 2002, Vancouver police claim 94 per cent of the firearms they seized came from the United States and 90 per cent of those were handguns.

Vancouver gunshop owner Kin Chung said those statistics prove that it's not his customers who should be penalized.

"I personally view this as a cheap shot when the proper concerns of the citizens are not being addressed and we're going to something that Mr. Martin knows is not going to solve the crime problem."

But Tony Cannavino, president of the Canadian Professional Police Association, said the law will send a positive message.

"What it says is, `Listen, this is not a cowboy country.' I think that's good," he said, but noted that professional criminals get their weapons illegally.

Susan Jessop, whose son Lee Matasi was gunned down on a Vancouver street Sunday, was among those who agree with a ban.

"Its a good start and I applaud it."