Gun licence applications are on the rise in the Greater Toronto Area. Between 2016 and 2025, the number of applicants for possession and acquisition licences, or PALs—the permits that allow Canadians to buy firearms—have increased by nearly 50 per cent. In some parts of the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area, like the eastern suburb of Peel, they’ve more than doubled. And southern Ontario isn’t the only place where this is happening. The number of PAL licence holders across Canada is quickly nearing 2.5 million, the highest count on record.
We’re gonna need em.
