Toronto Mayor David Miller released a report on gun violence strategy Monday that gained the support of the family and friends of gun victims.

Friends of John O'Keefe, a Toronto father who was shot in the head by a stray bullet as he was walking home on Yonge Street after a night out, said gun control is key to preventing a similar tragedy in the future.

"Please don't fall into the trap of thinking of John as murder victim number two, Instead, think of the person you love most being shot dead in the middle of your safe street," Andrea Aster, a friend of the victim, said in her deputation to councillors sitting on the Executive Committee.

Abdi Warsame, who lost his friend 18-year-old Abdikarim Ahmed Abdikarim in a shootout last month, said gun violence doesn't discriminate among its victims.

"Guns don't care about the colour of your skin," he said. "Guns don't care who are you. Guns take lives."

The report calls for a total ban on handguns, increased anti-gun security at the Canada-U.S. border, increased gun control and community-based prevention programs.

The mayor is trying to get his message to a younger generation through the web. The city has started a group on Facebook, a popular social networking site and the city has also posted a video of the mayor on YouTube.

The city has also posted a petition on its website calling for Canadians across the country to push for a total gun ban from coast to coast.

"Toronto continues to face unacceptable incidents of gun violence," Miller said in a news release posted on the city's website. "These cannot be fully addressed without a total ban on handguns. Handguns are designed for one purpose and that is to kill people and have no place in our society. Statistics show that in jurisdictions with gun bans, supply is limited and shootings are less common.

"I call on Canadians, and especially Torontonians, to add their names to the petition and tell the federal government no more lives should be lost in this way," he said.

The report has been forwarded to provincial and federal politicians and Miller says he will personally deliver the petition to Parliament Hill in June.

The Executive Committee has asked city staff to suggest legal measures that can be implemented locally to address gun control. That report is expected to be ready by June.

With a report from CTV Toronto's Alicia Kay-Markson