Canada elections: Conservatives under fire for gun control stance

Conservative leader faces mounting questions over promise to overturn a 2020 ban on some assault-style weapons such as AR-15.

Canada’s Conservative Party, which holds a slim lead in a tight election race, is facing mounting criticism for its stance on gun control, after the Conservatives pledged to overturn a 2020 ban on some “assault-style” weapons. Conservative leader Erin O’Toole has been pressed repeatedly this week over his campaign promise to overturn last year’s prohibition on weapons such as the AR-15, which was used by a gunman to kill 26 adults and children in the 2012 Sandy Hook massacre in the United States. O’Toole declined to answer the questions directly, noting he plans to keep a separate 1977 ban on assault rifles.