Assault weapons should be illegal in Canada

It’s up to the government to act now to prevent the next mass shooting, Boufeldja Benabdallah says.

Media coverage of the Crown’s evidence at the sentencing hearing in connection with last year’s massacre at Quebec City’s Islamic Cultural Centre has allowed Canadians to better assess Alexandre Bissonnette’s attack on 46 worshippers and four children who were struggling to hide or flee. Six of our brothers in the prime of their lives — Hassan, Aboubaker, Mamadou Tanou, Azzedine, Ibrahima and Khaled — could not escape death by bullets.

Citizens heard that Bissonnette had been consulting a doctor for anxiety, was taking antidepressants and had been on leave from his work. They heard that despite this profile, he was able to own several firearms legally.

And, finally, citizens heard that Bissonnette was a member of a gun club, a place where one learns how to shoot, and where people can practise “tactical” games, with the goal of shooting multiple targets as rapidly as possible using assault weapons.

Such weapons include the non-restricted semiautomatic Small Arms VZ58 Sporter rifle, equipped with a magazine containing 29 bullets, with which Bissonnette launched his attack. Luckily, this gun jammed on the first shot, and that is when he proceeded with a 9mm Glock.

What would the outcome have been had the VZ58 not jammed? Aymen Derbali, who was hit seven times, told the court in his victim impact statement that this fluke narrowly prevented further carnage, given that Bissonnette “was determined to kill us all.”

Armed with one pistol and five magazines, the killer was able to fire 10 shots in a row, with such force that the bullets pierced walls. A total of 48 bullets were shot, killing six people, seriously injuring five and causing life-long trauma for 39 others in less than two minutes.

In less than two minutes. What kind of society allows a single individual to have so much destructive, lethal power at their disposal?

We posed this question last November to Mark Holland, parliamentary secretary to the federal minister of Public Safety. We also mentioned several investigative reports describing the establishment of far-right militias in Canada, including in Quebec — militias that consider themselves to be “at war” with certain minorities, including Muslims, and that actually require members to hold a valid licence to own firearms, a licence that allows the legal acquisition of assault weapons.

Despite our having raised these concerns, the federal government has not dealt with the issue of assault weapons in its current reform of Canada’s Firearms Act, Bill C-71.

This is extremely disappointing.

Is it because a minority of gun enthusiasts who consider themselves “victims” of a “draconian” law are frightening some government MPs in view of the coming elections?

Yet, public opinion on gun control is clear: Not only do polls show that the vast majority supports a ban on assault weapons, but Canadians recently organized multiple marches across the country to stand with the Parkland students, who are calling for their ban in the United States.

We therefore hope that the suffering we have experienced on a daily basis in the wake of the publication of the details of the massacre will have been made worthwhile by a sincere will on the part of the government to take the necessary legislative steps so as to prevent the next mass shooting.

We are calling on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government to eliminate legal access to assault weapons and their deadly accessories. Only then will it be possible, insh’allah, to ensure a peaceful rest for the victims while strengthening our common values of peace, order and good government — the pride of Canada, this beautiful and great country of ours.

Boufeldja Benabdallah is president of the Quebec Islamic Cultural Centre. This article is adapted from a letter sent to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau that was co-signed by more than 75 others, including the centre’s board members, the injured and survivors of the Jan. 29, 2017 shooting and families of the deceased.