Loose US Gun Laws Threaten Canadians: Police Assoc. President

In Canada, governments at all levels have been discussing how to deal with gun violence, but part of the problem resides beyond their control.

A man and child walk by a mock graveyard across from the United Nations (UN) which represents those killed by arms everyday around the world on July 25, 2012 in New York City. The group Control Arms set up the campaign to help draw attention to the issues of deaths by guns and other armaments while negotiations continue at the UN for a new Arms Trade Treaty. Spencer Platt/Getty Images

TORONTO—Public shootings in Toronto have fuelled intense political pressure for action, but with gun control off the political radar south of the border, despite a murderous rampage in a Colorodo movie theatre, at least part of the problem looks to be ignored.

The summer has seen a spate of high-profile public shootings in Canada and the U.S., beginning with the fatal shooting Toronto Eatons Centre earlier in June, then a gun fight at a BBQ in the nearby suburb of Scarborough on July 16.

While that shootout left two killed and 23 injured, it was eclipsed days later when 24-year-old James Eagan Holmes opened fire in a Colorado theatre last Friday and killed 12 people while injuring 58 others.