Canada introduces regulation to freeze handgun sales, ban look-alike toys

OTTAWA, Might 30 (Reuters) - Canada's government introduced legislation Monday to implement a "nationwide freeze" on the sale and buy of handguns as a part of a gun control package that might also restrict journal capacities and ban some toys that appear to be guns.

The brand new legislation, which resurrects some measures that were shelved last 12 months amid a nationwide election, comes only a week after a gunman killed 19 children and two teachers in their classroom in Uvalde, Texas.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau advised reporters the brand new measures were wanted as gun violence was increasing.

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"We need solely look south of the border to know that if we do not take motion firmly and rapidly it will get worse and worse and gets more difficult to counter," he said.

The handgun freeze would include exceptions, including for elite sport shooters, Olympic athletes and security guards. Canadians who already personal handguns can be allowed to maintain them.

Authorities do not count on a run on handguns in anticipation of the freeze, partly because they are so closely regulated already, an official mentioned in a briefing.

Canada has stronger gun laws than the US however whereas its gun homicide fee is less than one-fifth the U.S. price it is larger than that of different rich nations and has been rising. In 2020 it was five instances Australia's rate.

The speed in each of 2020 and 2017 was the country's highest since at the very least 1997, in response to Statistics Canada.

Canada banned the sale and use of some 1,500 fashions of assault weapons, like the AR-15 rifle, two years ago within the wake of a mass shooting in Portapique, Nova Scotia - a move some firearms house owners say they're contesting in court docket. Talking alongside Trudeau, Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino confirmed the "imminent launch of the preliminary part" of a program to buy back and compensate owners of such weapons.

While the Liberals have a minority of seats in Parliament, the laws could pass with the support of the left-leaning New Democratic Party.

The deliberate laws would prevent anyone topic to a protection order or who has engaged in home violence or stalking from acquiring or keeping a firearms license.

It should additionally require long-gun magazines to be permanently altered so they can by no means hold more than 5 rounds and can ban the sale and switch of large-capacity magazines.

The brand new laws would also ban some toys that seem like actual guns, corresponding to airsoft rifles. Final week Toronto police shot and killed a man carrying a pellet gun. read more

"As a result of they look the same as real firearms, police need to deal with them as if they are real. This has led to tragic consequences," Justice Minister David Lametti instructed reporters.

Tom Stamatakis, president of the Canadian Police Association, welcomed a few of the strikes, such because the "pink flag" provisions in the case of domestic violence, and said he would like more information on enforcement and resources for measures such as the handgun freeze.

He completely supported a crackdown on faux weapons, which he stated had been a "large challenge."

"You can't distinguish between what's a replica firearm and what's an actual firearm, significantly when these incidences involving duplicate firearms occur usually in very dynamic, quickly evolving circumstances."

Rod Giltaca, the top of the Canadian Coalition for Firearm Rights, said the handgun freeze was "absurd."

He said authorities were not using the tools they already had to tackle gun violence, corresponding to calling folks listed as references on gun license purposes.

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Reporting by Ismail Shakil in Ottawa and Anna Mehler Paperny in Toronto, Enhancing by Rosalba O'Brien and Richard Pullin

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