TOUGHEN GANG LAWS TO FIGHT GUNS
(Toronto) - Former Solicitor General Bob Runciman (MPP Leeds-Grenville) is calling on the federal government to improve legislation dealing with criminal organizations so as to allow their designation as criminal groups and to thereafter criminalize participation or recruitment to them. Runciman is also suggesting that mandatory minimum sentences be created for crimes committed by persons proven to be gang members and that a murder committed by a proven gang member be automatically classified as first degree murder with no parole eligibility for a minimum of twenty five years.
"The bulk of gun crime in Toronto and other big cities is originating with members of street gangs and all too frequently innocent citizens are the victims of their violent actions," asserted Runciman.
Three ‘known to the police’ members of criminal gangs have been charged in the shooting death of an 11 year old Toronto boy in what police believe was the result of a shoot-out between rival street gangs and gang related gun violence continues to plague the city.
"These people have no respect for life and no respect for our justice system. Our laws should treat gang membership for what it is; a scourge that gets you significant extra jail time and not something to be tolerated or ignored. Parents should also be confident that the law is on their side when it comes to preventing young people from being recruited into these criminal gangs,” added Runciman.
"These criminal gangs need to be confronted by specially targeted laws and I hope the McGuinty government will change its head in the sand approach to crime and join me in working with our federal government to make these changes so that these murderous punks are removed from our streets once and for all," he concluded.
