Sarnia-Lambton's MP is very concerned with the government's proposed firearm-control legislation.
A national freeze on importing, buying or selling handguns is a central feature of the bill proposed Monday.
Marilyn Gladu said it will do absolutely nothing to eliminate gun crime in Canada.
"Because the criminals don't obey the law. So, they're not going to look at this and say 'oh gee, I think I'm going to give up my handgun,' they're still going to have their handgun. This is just another attempt to put the rules around lawful gun owners, which is not going to address the problem."
The government is also proposing to limit long-gun magazines to no more than five rounds, and fight gun smuggling and trafficking by increasing criminal penalties.
Gladu said the problem in Canada is 95 per cent of gun crime is illegal guns or guns used illegally.
"And that is a problem of both enforcement with the police, and also making sure that people that are involved in gangs, that the penalties are stiffer and they actually remain in prison."
Gladu mentioned how Sarnia has a homicide rate on par with Toronto. She added that Canada needs to come up with a strategy that will actually target the root cause of gun violence.
"We've seen even within the last month drones carrying illegal guns across the border into our town. So, we know about the drug problem, we know that we do have issues with illegal guns and guns used illegally and it's the same across the country."
The manager of the Lambton Sportsman Club also believes the proposed bill will do absolutely nothing to affect the criminal use of firearms.
Secretary Treasurer Caron Ball said the problem lies with the person behind the gun, not the firearm itself.
"When somebody's family is wiped out in a drunk driving accident, or that fella in Toronto who rented the van from Home Depot mowed down all of those people, nobody started screaming 'ban cars,' nobody screams 'ban alcohol,' and they don't call them vehicle crimes or vehicle violence," said Ball. "But with firearms, we always go back to blaming the inanimate object."
Ball said all of the restrictions in the bill come down on legal gun owners.
"In one breath, [Prime Minister Justin] Trudeau claims that he respects licenced firearms owners, yet this proposed handgun legislation is not focused on violent criminals, drug dealers or gun smugglers, it's focused totally on the 2.2 million licenced firearms owners of Canada," said Ball. "My big thing is you need to know what you're talking about, you need to do the research and you need to talk to our side, not just the anti side."
Ball said in 2015, 12 per cent of firearms related homicides were gang related. Two years later, it was up to 21 per cent, and in 2020, it jumped to 39 per cent.
"I think that speaks volumes where the problem is with firearms and the crime being committed."