Quebec could also suffer from events of great violence like the one that occurred in Uvalde, Texas, since American influence has already reached Quebec, believes a former police officer.
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In Montreal, two teenagers were sentenced yesterday morning for having planned in detail a real massacre in a Montreal high school.
“What we are seeing now is the American influence which is catching up with us,” explains Alain Gelly, retired policeman and teacher in police technology at the Campus Notre-Dame-de-Foy in Quebec.
He is well aware of the reality that Americans live with when it comes to firearms. He made about fifty educational trips, notably to Mississippi, with his students.
Weapons are almost family members in some cases.
“I have friends there whose weapons are part of their religion,” he says. They have the Bible in their left hand and they have the weapon in their right hand. »
Faced with tragedies like that of Uvalde, the solution is very simple for many Americans.
“They were brought up in a context where weapons and violence are omnipresent, recalls the former police officer. They do not turn a blind eye to this tragedy, they say that if everyone had been armed at school, we probably would have avoided it, ”continues the former Lévis police officer.
More weapons here
In Quebec, firearms proliferate, as evidenced by numerous seizures of illegal weapons. Quebec is also calling on the federal government to tighten the rules on handguns and border controls.
“If you draw a parallel between what is happening in the evolution of firearms in Quebec, you have to be a visionary and tell yourself that there is no smoke without fire,” explains Mr. Gelly, who is not surprised by the tragedy of Uvalde.
“Once again, innocent young people will be forgotten after a week. Only the names change. The dramas follow one after the other, ”he notes.
Mr. Gelly is sorry that this issue is politicized and is claiming many lives.
“Presidents cry in the face of these events, but the laws do not change,” he denounces.