Contrary to the arguments and false logic on the left, gun control fuels spikes in violent crime. The recent push by Canada to ban handguns is a telling case study, and voters and policymakers here in the U.S. would be wise to scrutinize the consequences.

Instead of reducing crime, this draconian policy has emboldened criminals and left Canadian citizens defenseless. The most damning example has been the recent news from Toronto, one of North America’s largest cities, where police are urging residents to take unprecedented new measures to avoid contact with violent criminals:

“To prevent the possibility of being attacked in your home, leave your key fobs at your front door, because they’re breaking into your home to steal your car. They don’t want anything else.”

This advice from the Toronto Police Service is a nonanswer to crime, and it does more to empower and encourage crime than deter it.

Criminals in Canada already act with no care for the law. Now, they have yet another reason to be confident when planning a home invasion: Their statistical chance of running into an armed homeowner is low — and will eventually be near zero.

A disarmed Canadian populace is leading to a prevalence of “hot burglaries,” i.e., those that occur while the residents are home. Other countries that have strict gun control laws, such the United Kingdom, have similar problems. In fact, a study by the University of Chicago Law School found that half of the burglaries in Canada and the U.K. meet the definition of a “hot burglary,” while only 13% of burglaries in the United States can be defined that way.

Can anyone really be surprised by this gross discrepancy?

From the criminals’ perspective, it’s undeniable that breaking into homes where resistance is unlikely is much more appealing. It’s much easier to steal from a population that is so weak and defenseless that they’re encouraged to leave their doors unlocked and their car keys waiting for criminals.

Thankfully, Americans are more protected. Criminals see the steady flow of stories highlighting instances of self-defense against criminals, both inside and outside the home. This is a compelling deterrent that undoubtedly reduces home invasions and carjackings.

And while gun owners in this country may look at this comical story about their neighbors to the north and chuckle at their ridiculous predicament, they must stay vigilant, as the ideology behind Canadian gun control is marching south to bring those same restrictions to the United States.

Gun control groups in the U.S. would like nothing more than for law-abiding Americans to submit to criminals in the same way Canadians have. This placating of crime has already seeped into public policy in states like New York, where Gov. Kathy Hochul recently banned the National Guard from carrying rifles while deployed in the New York City subway system to deter crime. Within a week, a criminal was shot with his own gun by a bystander after aggressively confronting passengers. So much for the National Guard being an effective deterrent.

On top of that, shootings are still happening in New York’s “sensitive places,” a legal term that describes locations where the lawful carrying of guns is prohibited. A February report detailed how two assailants in Times Square were not dissuaded by the city’s gun-free zone — and yet despite breaking the law, the suspects in the attack faced no added charges for being armed in a “sensitive place.”

While such gun control policies are universal in Canada, they’re already creeping into U.S. cities and states, and the consequences are purely negative for the innocent, law-abiding public. Voters and public officials alike must fight the urge to legislate away our constitutional right to self-defense, or soon enough, readers may find themselves placing their car keys on the front porch each night.

Read more at The Washington Times