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Coroner seeks ban on gun used in Dawson shooting
by Tina Kells | September 4, 2008 at 09:41 am | 108 views | add comment | 0 recommendations
Coroner Jacques Ramsay released his findings Thursday on the 2006 Dawson College shooting in Montreal. The coroner's report calls for a ban on semi-automatic weapons like the one used by gunman Kimveer Gill.
In his report, Ramsey called on the government to ban the semi-automatic weapon, saying the gun should be subject to laws restricting sales of paramilitary-style firearms which are lighter, more accurate and more easily handled.
Ramsey also said in the report that federal and provincial gun registries should be more accessible to some health and education officials. He said a school principal could use the list to determine whether a student owns a gun.
On September 13, 2006, Gill stormed Dawson college, an English-language school in Montreal, killing student Anastasia De Sousa and wounding 20 others. Gill turned the gun on himself before an arrest could be made.
The shooting sent shockwaves through the city of Montreal, reminding residents of the 1989 L'ecole Polytechnique massacre in which shooter Marc Lepine killed 14 women. Police in Montreal were praised for stopping Gill before the Dawson college shootings reached the same level of carnage.
Like Lepine, Gill had a history of mental disturbance and this has been noted in the coroner's report as a possible area of weakness in current gun control laws. Ramsay also called for better emergency communication plans between schools and police, including the installation of GPS tracking systems in police cruisers.
Kimveer Gill had been drinking at the time of the shootings but was not considered to be legally drunk. He fired 72 rounds with his semi-automatic rifle, hitting De Sousa 10 times in the front and back.
September 4, 2008 at 09:41 am by Tina Kells, 108 views, add comment
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