Off Target

The government of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was as ambitious as it was contentious – and few policy areas illustrate this as well as gun control, an area which, since 2019, has seen the implementation of significant new laws: the freezing of handgun sales, the prohibition of a long list of ‘assault-style’ rifles, and the creation of what critics have labelled a “back door” gun registry. But have these changes made Canadians safer? What can they tell us about gun control policy, or public policy more broadly? In Off Target, Noah S. Schwartz evaluates these new laws, drawing on interviews with law enforcement, community workers and key stakeholders, as well as publicly available data and scholarship. Finding little evidence that these policies have made Canadians safer, Schwartz documents the harm that they have done to businesses, leisure communities and individuals across Canada. He argues that rather than enforcing strict gun laws, policymakers will get more bang for their buck investing resources in less glamorous but more effective tools like community policing and violence interruption programs. These programs tackle the root causes of crime while providing support and employment to the communities suffering the most from gun violence.