Trudeau evokes shooting of innocent B.C. teen while announcing new gun control measures

Announcing new measures to tackle gun violence, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau invoked the memory of an innocent B.C. teenager who was killed when gang members opened fire on a busy street in 2018.

"Nothing can bring back Alfred Wong, who was caught in the crossfire of a gun fight in Vancouver. He was only 15," he said at the beginning of a news conference.

“As the government, as a society, we have a responsibility to act to prevent more tragedies."

Wong, a Coquitlam high school student, was in the back seat of his family's car when he was shot by a bullet that pierced the window during a gunfight on a busy Vancouver Street.

He died in hospital two days later.

"Alfred, forgive Mom and Dad. We failed to protect you," Samson Wong said at his son's memorial service. "Mom and Dad have been talking. We wish the bullet went for our heart, not yours."

In March of 2022, a man was charged with second-degree murder in Wong's death. Twenty-six year-old Kane Carter was also charged with killing Kevin Whiteside, a 23-year-old Vancouver resident who was known to police and believed to be "involved in gang life." At first, police believed Whiteside was the target of the shooting, but later said he was the one who instigated the deadly violence.

Wong's case was one of several explicitly mentioned by Trudeau, who was joined by survivors of the Polytechnique massacre, the Danforth mass shooting and the terrorist attack on a Quebec City mosque.

"Canadians certainly don't need assault-style weapons that were designed to kill the largest number of people in the shortest amount of time. Canadians are united in wanting more done to keep communities safe and prevent suicides and gender-based violence. And that's exactly why we're here today. Because the consequences are real," he said.

"Losing a child to gun violence, or a brother or a sister or a spouse or a parent or a friend -- it should never happen."

NEW LEGISLATION

A national freeze on importing, buying or selling handguns is a central feature of firearm-control legislation tabled today by the federal Liberals.

The government says Bill C-21 would also allow for the removal of gun licences from people involved in acts of domestic violence or criminal harassment, such as stalking

The government plans to fight gun smuggling and trafficking by increasing criminal penalties, providing more tools to investigate firearms crimes and strengthening border measures.

In addition, the bill would create a new "red flag" law allowing courts to require that people considered a danger to themselves or others surrender their firearms to police.

The Liberals also say they will require long-gun magazines to be permanently altered so they can never hold more than five rounds, as well as ban the sale and transfer of large-capacity magazines under the Criminal Code.

With files from CTV News Vancouver staff and The Canaddian Press