The motivation for push for handgun ban in Canada

Lorne Gunter has this piece in the Canadian National Post:

In a nutshell, Mr. James' thesis is that even though a ban on handguns in Canada would be largely ineffective at combating crime, Ottawa should enact one anyway since such a prohibition is popular in Toronto and would be a clarion symbol of our national commitment to ending violence; not to mention demonstrating our sympathy with the victims of gun crime.

"Any ban on handguns is a public statement," Mr. James wrote. "It expresses the collective will and desire of a community, a city or a country. It will take more than a ban to rid us of the scourge of gun violence. And its effectiveness has been proven spotty and inconclusive in other jurisdictions. But it is a tool acceptable to most Torontonians, in spite of the legitimate arguments of gun owners and scepticism about its efficacy."

Handgun bans are not merely of dubious efficacy. They are completely ineffective. And the evidence of this is not merely "spotty," it's glaring. . . .

This piece is good, but he does mistakenly think that NYC has a gun ban.