r/canadaguns • u/WetNightmares • Aug 19 '26

News / Politics / Activism Ontario judge sentences handgun trafficker to house arrest after mandatory minimum declared unconstitutional

https://nationalpost.com/news/canada/ontario-judge-sentences-handgun-trafficker-to-house-arrest-after-mandatory-minimum-declared-unconstitutional
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u/swift_gilford Aug 19 '26

after mandatory minimum declared unconstitutional

If mandatory minimum is considered unconstitutional then we don't have "mandatory minimums"

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u/PhantomNomad al 29d ago

Just because we don't have a mandatory minimum doesn't mean they should be allowed to wander the street either. I'm sure jail time could have been given, even up to the maximum.

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u/SirKickBan 29d ago

Down a ways into the article it mentions that other members of the conspiracy got much harsher sentences, but that the judge believed this individual, alongside one other, had relatively minor roles that didn't merit heavy sentencing.

“On this continuum of criminal behaviour, I find that the gravity of Mr. Wright’s offence and his moral blameworthiness sits more closely on the spectrum to that of his co-accused who also received a conditional sentence for her peripheral involvement, than with those offenders who were intimately involved in planning, importing and the execution of the trafficking operation itself,”

My read is that he was just a mule, basically.

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u/PhantomNomad al 29d ago

Yeah I read that part also. Not convinced that they where just a mule. Granted they where privy to much more information then I was. I still think gun trafficking need stronger sentences no matter where you are on the food chain. But I also think our justice system should be more about reform then punishment. So I'm flip flopping on this I guess.

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u/SirKickBan 29d ago

I tend to agree broadly, I think. If they are a mule, then they're probably right in the 'can be reformed' area, and also a spot where like.. -Literally anybody could become a mule, so keeping them off the streets doesn't do a lot, and harsh punishments to try and deter it don't work well when the potential pool of people for the role is so huge.

But it does all depend on information we don't have access to.