Bill 210 explained in plain English
Stopping Illegal Handgun Smuggling Act, 2024
Ontario legislature bill summary, status, timeline, sponsor, votes, and official sources.
At a glance
Official Legislative Assembly of Ontario snapshot for 43rd Parliament, 1st Session. Representative vote breakdowns appear when the Assembly publishes an Ayes and Nays page for the bill.
Our plain-language take, written for civic education.
Source: By PoliticalData.ca
Bill 210 requires Ontario's Attorney General to develop a plan to address illegal handgun smuggling, including research on potential legal action against U.S. gun manufacturers.
Bill 210 creates the Stopping Illegal Handgun Smuggling Act, 2024. The bill requires Ontario's Attorney General (referred to as the "Minister" in the act) to create a plan within one year to stop illegal handguns from entering Ontario. The Attorney General must: - Research how illegal handguns enter Ontario and are sold within the province - Research legal approaches and litigation strategies to address the problem - Look into possible legal action against U.S. gun manufacturers who make handguns - Consider whether such legal action would likely push the gun industry to make changes that would better protect Ontarians - Consult with affected communities, lawyers experienced with tobacco or pharmaceutical lawsuits, and law enforcement and border security professionals - Publish the plan on a government website If the Attorney General believes legal action against gun manufacturers is reasonably likely to lead to industry changes that protect Ontarians, the Attorney General must: - Take steps to start legal action within six months after the plan is developed - Develop new legislation about the legal action if the Attorney General believes it is in the public interest Within six months of developing the plan, the Attorney General must report to the Ontario Legislature on: - Whether legal action is being pursued and the strategy for it, or - If legal action is not being pursued, the reasons why The act comes into force when it receives Royal Assent (the formal approval from the Crown that makes a bill law).
- Enacts a new law called the Stopping Illegal Handgun Smuggling Act, 2024
- Requires the Attorney General to develop an illegal handgun litigation plan within one year
- Requires research into how illegal handguns enter Ontario and are sold within the province
- Requires research into legal approaches and litigation strategies to address illegal handgun smuggling
- Requires research into possible legal grounds for action against U.S. gun manufacturers
- Requires consultation with affected communities, lawyers experienced in tobacco or pharmaceutical litigation, and law enforcement and border security professionals
- Requires the plan to be published on a government website
- Requires the Attorney General to take steps to commence legal action within six months if legal action is deemed reasonably likely to compel industry changes that protect Ontarians
- Allows the Attorney General to develop legislation related to such legal action if in the public interest
- Requires a report to the Ontario Legislature within six months of the plan's development, detailing either the litigation strategy or the reasons litigation is not being pursued
- The Ontario Attorney General, who must develop the plan and conduct research
- Communities affected by illegal handguns
- Law enforcement and border security professionals in Ontario
- Lawyers and legal professionals experienced in tobacco or pharmaceutical litigation
- Members of the Ontario Legislature, who must receive reports on the plan
- Potentially, gun manufacturers in the United States of America, if legal action is pursued
- The Attorney General must develop an illegal handgun litigation plan within one year of the act coming into force
- The Attorney General must research entry of illegal handguns into Ontario, sales of such handguns, litigation approaches, and grounds for legal action against U.S. gun manufacturers
- The Attorney General must consult with affected communities, lawyers experienced in tobacco or pharmaceutical litigation, and law enforcement and border security professionals
- The Attorney General must publish the plan on a government website
- If legal action is reasonably likely to compel industry changes, the Attorney General must take steps to commence legal action within six months
- The Attorney General may develop legislation related to such legal action if in the public interest
- The Attorney General must report to the Ontario Legislature within six months of the plan's development
- The act comes into force on the day it receives Royal Assent
- The Attorney General must develop the illegal handgun litigation plan within one year after the act comes into force
- If legal action is determined to be appropriate, the Attorney General must take steps to commence it within six months after the plan is developed
- The Attorney General must report to the Ontario Legislature within six months after the plan is developed
- The bill does not specify costs or funding requirements for developing the plan
- The bill does not specify potential costs associated with legal action against gun manufacturers
- The bill notes in the preamble that Canada and Ontario currently spend millions of dollars each year to stop gun smuggling, but does not quantify additional costs this bill may create
- The bill text does not specify enforcement mechanisms or penalties for non-compliance with the requirements
- The bill does not specify what constitutes 'communities affected by illegal handguns' for consultation purposes
- The bill does not define what research methods or investigation approaches the Attorney General should use
- The bill does not specify what evidence would constitute a 'reasonable likelihood' that legal action would compel industry changes
- The bill does not define what 'public interest' means in the context of whether to develop legislation related to legal action
- The bill does not specify whether the Attorney General has discretion in determining if legal action is reasonably likely to succeed, or what standard of review applies
- The bill does not specify consequences or enforcement if the Attorney General fails to meet the timeline requirements
- The bill does not specify the scope or nature of the research that must be undertaken
- The bill does not specify whether any legal action would proceed in Ontario courts or in other jurisdictions
- It is unclear whether the legislation contemplated in Section 4(b) would relate to substantive gun regulation or procedural matters related to litigation
A new Ontario law is created that establishes a framework requiring the Attorney General to develop a plan addressing illegal handgun smuggling, including potential legal action against U.S. gun manufacturers.
Source: Bill 210, Section 1-7
Generated using AI from official bill text. Not legal advice. It is written by PoliticalData.ca for civic education, automatically checked and spot-reviewed before publishing.
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Vote Summary
This bill is still active. We only show vote counts after the legislature publishes a recorded division.
No published representative vote breakdown
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Official sources
Status, sponsor, votes, and timeline on this page are drawn from these official legislative sources and public records. Each summary above is attributed to its own source.
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