What would you do to save a life? Would you donate a kidney? Volunteer for a bone marrow transplant? Sign an online petition?

Mayor David Miller has gone online to get your support for his Community Safety Plan, including a petition asking the federal government "to take immediate action to ban handguns in Canada."

In a video posted on YouTube yesterday, Miller recalls consoling families and friends of victims of handgun violence and vows to each and everyone of them that he will do everything in his power to put a stop to it.

A January CBC report states that 122 Torontonians lost their lives to gun violence between 2005 and 2007, up 42% from the previous 3-year period.

The pro-gun side of the argument has always suggested that only outlaws will have handguns if handguns are outlawed, but the Coaltion for Gun Control is quick to point out that every illegal gun starts out as a legal gun. Sometimes stolen, sold illegally, or smuggled in from the US, there are also an alarming number of deaths caused by legal firearms users.

To quote Mayor Miller, "every single country in the world that has strict gun laws has lower rates of homicide by gun, lower rates of suicide, has lower rates of accidental death and has lower rates of domestic violence using handguns."

It's doubtful whether the Mayor's plea will go over well on Parliament Hill. Prime Minister Stephen Harper seems to be do everything he can not to make waves with stateside, and America is not likely to realize any time soon that the Second Amendment is causing their founding fathers to roll in their graves, but this city has seen more than it's fair share of innocent bystanders and troubled youth lose their lives in recent years, so I personally hope that the Mayor's call to action is heard nationwide and responded to enthusiastically.

If signing the petition can save the next Jane Creba, Todd Baylis, Kempton Howard, Pauline Mattis, Hu Chang Mao or John O'Keefe it would have to be the most rewarding one minute diversion of your day.

• Toronto's Community Safety Plan


• The Online Petition


• The Mayor's YouTube Video


• Ban Handguns in Canada ... Sign the Petition (Facebook Group)


• Fact sheet: Impact of firearms In Canada (PDF)