Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has beaten the anti-gun drum for quite some time. That includes his recent moves that are essentially a handgun ban. There are exceptions for certain people to get them, but it’s still a pretty extensive set of restrictions.

Yet a number of police chiefs up that way felt they needed to point something out.

They correctly note that these restrictions won’t actually impact the guns criminals use.

Police experts are warning MPs that proposed legislation to restrict access to handguns in Canada does not address the real issue of illegal firearms.

The House of Commons Public Safety Committee met on Oct. 27 to continue its study of Bill C-21.

Evan Bray, chief of Regina Police Service and co-chair of the Special Purpose Committee on Firearms for the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police (CACP), said restricting lawful handgun ownership will not meaningfully address the real issue.

It’s “illegal firearms, illegal handguns, obtained from the United States that have led to the disturbing current trend in gun violence that is largely related to street gangs and more sophisticated organized crime groups,” he said.

Bray said the CACP supports implementation of new firearms-related offenses, intensified border controls, and strengthened penalties to help deter criminal activities and to combat firearm smuggling and trafficking. Such measures will reduce the number of “illegal firearms that find their way into Canadian communities and are used to commit criminal offenses,” he said.

Brian Sauvé, president of the National Police Federation, said the proposed legislation “primarily” targets legal firearm owners who have followed government regulations.

It’s funny how much this sounds like what we say about various gun control laws considered here in the United States.

They’re right, though.

Criminals obtain guns through all kinds of means, but they almost never do so legally.

What Trudeau and his fellow lawmakers are doing is basically saying, “people who get this thing illegally do bad things, so we’re going to stop you from having this thing even though our other laws failed miserably.”

Maybe it’s just me, but that sounds like a hell of a hot take.

And in the meantime, don’t expect this to do anything about crime in Canada. After all, criminals will still get guns. They’ll get them however they can, including guns smuggled in across the border despite the laws in both the US and Canada.

One more law isn’t going to help.

What it will do, though, is hurt law-abiding Canadians who want handguns for whatever reason.

It’s also why maintaining our Second Amendment is so important. Some people want to repeal it, and stuff like this is why I personally will stand against any effort to do so.

Canadians don’t have such protections, and we’ve seen modern sporting rifles and handguns become heavily restricted in the last couple of years. Do not for an instant believe it won’t be tried here. They’ve tried it before and will try it again.

The Second Amendment is the ultimate barrier, thankfully, and it’s not going anywhere.