Nearly 25 years after 14 women were murdered at Ecole Polytechnique in Montreal, a group of school alumni, students and staff are demanding greater Canadian gun control.
On Dec. 6, 1989, gunman Marc Lepine walked into the college and went on a shooting rampage, killing 14 female engineering students and wounding fourteen other people before killing himself.
鈥淚 was shot four times,鈥� survivor Nathalie Provost told 麻豆影视 Montreal on Friday. 鈥淚t was chaos.鈥�
Jean-Francois Larivee lost his spouse on that fateful day nearly 25 years ago.
鈥淭here鈥檚 not one day that passes I don鈥檛 think about her,鈥� he told 麻豆影视 Montreal.
Provost and Larivee are members of 鈥淧oly-remembers鈥� 鈥� a group dedicated to preserving the legacy of the victims of the Montreal Massacre, as well as one committed to the reduction of crime through greater gun control.
Gun control plea
On Friday, the group gathered in Montreal to target the federal government鈥檚 controversial Bill C-42. The bill -- formally titled 鈥淭he Common Sense Firearms Act鈥� -- was put forward by the governing Conservatives as an amendment to simplify the gun-licensing process for legal gun owners.
Bill C-42 was , the day that Michael Zehaf-Bibeau stormed Parliament after the shooting death of Cpl. Nathan Cirillo at Ottawa鈥檚 National War Memorial.
Bill C-42 seemed to be temporarily dropped from the agenda in the aftermath of the shooting, until Public Safety Minister Steven Blaney kicked off the bill鈥檚 debate in Parliament earlier this week.
But both Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau and gun-control advocates have said that Bill C-42 will relax regulations too much and lead to more gun crime.
鈥淧oly-remembers鈥� believes that Canadian gun-control laws are weaker today than they were in 1989, especially after the federal government鈥檚 decision to scrap the long gun registry. Quebec still maintains the registry, pending an upcoming Supreme Court ruling expected in 2015.
The Montreal Massacre helped to spur the Canadian gun control movement.
Survivor Heidi Rathjen -- who was at Ecole Polytechnique on the day of the shooting -- co-organized the advocacy group Coalition for Gun Control. Her activities, amongst others, led to the passage of the Firearms Act in 1995, which ushered in stricter gun control regulations.
Montreal massacre anniversary
Meanwhile, 25 years after the Montreal Massacre, Jean-Francois Larivee says he hasn鈥檛 been able to make sense of the motivations the led to his spouse鈥檚 murder.
鈥淭here鈥檚 no philosophy that exists on earth that is able to make sense of that,鈥� he said.
Since 1991, the anniversary of the massacre -- which falls on next Saturday -- has been designated the
