The Canadian government should ban the type of semiautomatic rifle used by a gunman who killed a student and wounded 16 others at a Montreal college nearly two years ago, a coroner said in his report on the shooting released Thursday.

Quebec Coroner Jacques Ramsay also recommended that health and education officials have wider access to federal and provincial gun registries to check if a student or hospital patient might be carrying a gun.

Schools must also fine-tune emergency plans and communications, Ramsay said.

Gunman Kimveer Gill stormed onto Dawson College's downtown campus on Sept. 13, 2006, fatally shooting student Anastasia De Sousa and wounding 16 others before killing himself.

Gill obtained a short-barrelled Beretta CX4 Storm rifle legally before his rampage, the coroner said in his report. Ramsay said assault rifles that have ammunition clips behind the trigger should not be available to the public.

Ramsay said Gill, who had had a few drinks before the rampage but was not intoxicated, fired 72 times with the rifle and six times with a handgun. De Sousa was hit about 10 times in the front and back.

Ramsay recounted the rampage in exacting detail during a news conference Thursday, tracing the movements of Gill and pursuing police.

He praised the actions of several police officers and the school's security chief.

He also said Montreal police should follow the example of some other police forces and give their officers access to heavier weapons, such as shotguns or other long-barrelled rifles, at the district station or in supervisor's cars.

The coroner said police cars should be equipped with global positioning systems to improve response to emergencies.

Ramsay said Gill suffered from psychological problems such as recurring anxiety, hypersensitivity and depression. He threatened to commit suicide in 2004 and had between two and seven drinks a day.