The Trench Coat Ban

Gun control has been an abject failure as the examples of Kimveer Gill, Valeri Fabrikant, Marc Lepine, Denis Lortie have so aptly shown. Each shooting occurred after Canada introduced some new restrictive Gun controls:
(from Wikipedia)

• Regulation in 1934 required the registration of handguns with records identifying the owner, the owner's address and the firearm
• Automatic weapons were added to the category of firearms that had to be registered in 1951.
• In 1969, Bill C-150 created categories of “non-restricted,” “restricted” and “prohibited” weapons. Police were also given preventive powers of search and seizure by judicial warrant if they had grounds to believe that weapons that belonged to an individual endangered the safety of society
• In 1977, Bill C-51 required Firearms Acquisition Certificates (FACs) for the acquisition (but not possession) of all firearms and introduced controls on the selling of ammunition. FAC applicants were required to pass a basic criminal record check before being issued an FAC. Fully automatic weapons were also prohibited
• In 1991, Bill C-17 tightened up restrictions and established controls on any firearms that had a military or paramilitary appearance. Legislation also made changes to the FAC system. FAC applicants were now required to pass a firearms safety course, pass a more thorough background check, and wait a minimum of 28 days after applying for an FAC before being issued one. Finally in addition to the above changes, laws were put into place that restricted ownership of high capacity magazines, limiting handguns to 10 rounds and most semi-automatic rifles to 5. The restrictions did not cover rimfire rifles or manual (e.g., bolt action rifles). Provinces have the choice to opt-out of this regulation.
• In 1995, Bill C-68 introduced new, stricter, gun control legislation. The current legislation provides harsher penalties for crimes involving firearm use, licences to possess and acquire firearms, and registration of all firearms, including shotguns and rifles.

Controlling guns just isn’t the answer. The issue is the concealment of weapons. The first gun laws restricted pistols because they are too easy to conceal and since then each of the mass shootings in Canada has involved the use of long guns of some sort or another. Today’s gun laws continue the attempt to restrict the use of concealable weapons through the use of barrel length restrictions and over-all-length restrictions. These have made it harder and harder for mass killers to accomplish their goals but further restrictions are likely to impact legitimate gun users without further deterring the mass killer. Still, we must try!

And so I propose the ultimate solution to the concealed weapon dilemma:

The Trench Coat Ban!

Without the long-coat to conceal their weapons of choice mass killers could not carry powerful guns to their targets. And there is simply no need in a modern, Western country for trench coats. After all, we no longer have trenches, and the flimsy excuse that they are dual purpose rain coats cannot be allowed to sway us from the goal of gun safety. Certainly an outright ban may be a bit harsh so I propose, instead, a long-coat registry with strict screening and licensing requirements of long coats in the restricted category, mid-length-type coats (full length coats will be prohibited with no grandfathering). Non-restricted coats must end at the hips thereby denying the ability to conceal long guns. In this way we can continue on the road to safe, secure Canada.

Ps. What is it with all the mass shootings in Quebec?