Surrey mayor calling for tougher gun laws
Posted Jan 24, 2012 01:47:07 AM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
SURREY(NEWS1130)- The mayor of Surrey wants tougher sentences for people caught illegally possessing a gun.
Diane Watts feels stronger deterrents are needed to stop violent crime before it happens.
She says when a gun is used in a crime, the penalties are stiff, but she suggests when someone is found simply carrying a firearm the consequences are relatively weak, especially for repeat offenders.
“You know that they are carrying a firearm, and it could be, you know there’s gang activity, drug activity, all of those things, and so again we come back to what is the deterrent? There really isn’t any.”
Watts says the culture around guns has to change.
“People think that it’s fine to carry a weapon, you know and maybe they don’t realize the danger in terms of some of the outcomes.”
Watts says action is needed from the federal and provincial governments to bump up the length of sentences.
