Relatives of those killed or injured in the shooting rampage in Toronto鈥檚 Greektown last summer are calling for a ban on the private ownership of handguns and assault rifles.
Ken Price, father of one of the injured victims, told the media on Friday that a group of families have sent a letter to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. The letter requests that the government addresses what they say is a lack of action to curb gun violence.
鈥淎re we going to learn from our experience or are we going to express grief in the moment and move on? We are better than this as a nation," the open letter reads. "We are urging that Canada follow the lead of other like-minded countries such as the UK, Japan and Australia and impose a ban on the private ownership of handguns and military style assault rifles."
The gathering on Friday marked not only the seven month anniversary of the shooting but also the first time victims and their families rallied together publicly.
On July 22, gunman Faisal Hussain opened fire into crowded restaurants and patios killing 18-year-old Reese Fallon, and 10-year-old Julianna Kozis. Thirteen other people were injured. Investigators say the gunman later killed himself.
Price鈥檚 daughter Samantha was on Danforth Avenue eating ice cream with Fallon and a group of friends on the night of the shooting. A bullet pierced Price鈥檚 thigh.
Fallon's younger sister, Quinn Fallon, also spoke during the press conference at Danforth Music Hall and said her family now feels "incomplete."
"Reese always talked about her future 鈥� her future at McMaster [University], becoming a nurse and how many kids she wanted and where she wanted to raise a family," she said, adding the pain her family feels is 鈥渋ndescribable.鈥�
"Because of this tragedy, Reese and Julianna will never get to experience a day past that July 22. They both wanted love and peace, not hate or violence," she said. Noor Samiei, a friend of Fallon, told CTV Toronto she could never accept Fallon鈥檚 death. 鈥淚t鈥檒l always affect me.鈥�
"We miss Reese and we miss Julianna. We have to live with that," Samiei said at the press conference. "But we don't have to live with the laws that could be changed to help prevent this from happening again."
Price said 鈥渢he shootings took the lives of two girls we miss very much,鈥� Price said. 鈥淲e鈥檙e grieving still, every family here still feels affected 鈥� however there are some of us who do want to stand up today and say we do need to change.鈥�
He said Canadians have gone through an 鈥渦nprecedented year鈥� in gun violence, particularly in Toronto. He stressed this wasn鈥檛 a 鈥渞eferendum on firearms in general, but on specifically handguns and assault rifles.鈥�
Price said the group was 鈥渦nanimous鈥� in asking elected officials at all levels of government to advocate for these changes. Several of the family members wore shirts which read 鈥減rotect kids, not guns.鈥�
'We don鈥檛 want this to be you'
鈥淲e want to see this country move in this direction. We think it will benefit the country and we think it will prioritize public safety,鈥� Price said. 鈥淲e don鈥檛 want this to be you in the future and we can improve our odds of that not being the case if you鈥檙e supportive now.鈥�
On Friday, Toronto police Chief Mark Saunders said their investigation into the shooting had finished but he didn鈥檛 say when more information would be released.
Toronto鈥檚 city council has already called for a ban on handguns and assault rifles. Mayor John Tory previously sent a letter to the families of the Danforth shooting victims, and that he has also reached out to Trudeau.
The Liberal government is already exploring a potential handgun ban but affected families worry it won鈥檛 be enough.
"The families fear that the initiative will fall short of recommending a handgun and assault rifle ban, and they want to ensure they see action," the letter states.
Canada鈥檚 current firearms legislation doesn鈥檛 contain a definition of what constitutes as an assault rifle. But a recent on new gun legislation took the definition from the United States Department of Justice, which states: 鈥渁ssault weapons are semi-automatic firearms with a large magazine of ammunition that were designed and configured for rapid fire.鈥�
Although Canada has long prohibited possession of automatic guns, some semi-automatic firearms are not restricted and can be bought if purchasers obtain a basic .
With files from CTV Toronto
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