Mayor Tory rejects the idea that carding ban has led to more gun violence

Mayor John Tory is vehemently rejecting the idea that the banning of carding has contributed to a recent rash of gun violence in Toronto, including the Thursday shootings of two young girls at a Scarborough playground.

Some have taken to Twitter, citing the end of carding as a factor in the recent surge of gun violence.

“Another summer of the gun seems to be at hand. How’s that banning of carding working out for ya Toronto?” asked Ken Nesbitt.

Tory was asked during a Friday news conference how he responds to people who believe the banning of carding has led to more brazen gun violence.

“To me when people turn to carding by itself and say that is the cause, you have to ask yourself the question: When that absolutely despicable human being…held that gun in his hand yesterday afternoon and shot at a playground full of children…was that the result of a failure to have carding? I don’t think so, I think it’s more complicated than that,” he said.

Provincial regulations that came into effect on January 1, 2017 prohibited the controversial practice and police services across the province, including Toronto, have implemented the changes.

Under the new rules officers can’t randomly stop someone because of their race.

Mayor Tory stands behind those changes.

“All that was meant to be stopped by the regulation that was passed by the provincial government and implemented by Toronto police was the arbitrary stopping of people who are walking down the street minding their own business, not doing anything, with some expectation that those people had to divulge information to the police.”

“And I think most citizens actually support the fact that that is not what our Charter of Rights and Freedoms provides for … I think when it comes to respecting the basic rights that we cherish as Canadians, the government made a move in the right direction.”