“Most troubling is the extra year Forcillo gets because the gun in question is a restricted firearm,” Gridin told the judge. James Forcillo, his lawyer Lawrence Gridin told a judge Thursday, that sentence carries an additional year because the weapon he used to shoot Sammy Yatim is deemed a “restricted firearm” by the Criminal Code. And the mandatory minimum for attempted murder where a firearm is used is four years, but five years if the gun is restricted or prohibited under the Code. It seems inarguable that when the former Stephen Harper government brought in a sheaf of mandatory minimum sentences in 2008, Parliament was acting against gun violence on Canadian streets. “That’s the gun he’s issued!” Gridin told Ontario Superior Court Judge Ed Then.

Source: National Post May 19, 2016 18:18 UTC