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

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

The new legislation, which resurrects some measures that had been shelved final yr amid a national election, comes only a week after a gunman killed 19 kids and two teachers of their classroom in Uvalde, Texas.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau instructed reporters the brand new measures have been wanted as gun violence was increasing.

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

The handgun freeze would comprise exceptions, together with for elite sport shooters, Olympic athletes and safety guards. Canadians who already personal handguns can be allowed to keep them.

Authorities don't expect a run on handguns in anticipation of the freeze, partly because they're so closely regulated already, an official said in a briefing.

Canada has stronger gun legislation than the USA but while its gun homicide fee is lower than one-fifth the U.S. price it's higher than that of different wealthy international locations and has been rising. In 2020 it was 5 instances Australia's price.

The rate in each of 2020 and 2017 was the country's highest since no less than 1997, in response to Statistics Canada.

Canada banned the sale and use of some 1,500 models of assault weapons, just like the AR-15 rifle, two years in the past in the wake of a mass shooting in Portapique, Nova Scotia - a transfer some firearms owners say they are contesting in court docket. Speaking alongside Trudeau, Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino confirmed the "imminent launch of the preliminary section" of a program to buy again and compensate owners of such weapons.

While the Liberals have a minority of seats in Parliament, the laws may move with the assist of the left-leaning New Democratic Party.

The planned legislation would prevent anyone topic to a safety order or who has engaged in home violence or stalking from obtaining or maintaining a firearms license.

It will also require long-gun magazines to be completely altered so they can by no means hold greater than 5 rounds and will ban the sale and switch of large-capacity magazines.

The new laws would also ban some toys that seem like actual weapons, similar to airsoft rifles. Last week Toronto police shot and killed a man carrying a pellet gun. read extra

"Because they look the same as real firearms, police need to treat them as if they are actual. This has led to tragic penalties," Justice Minister David Lametti advised reporters.

Tom Stamatakis, president of the Canadian Police Association, welcomed some of the strikes, such as the "red flag" provisions in the case of domestic violence, and said he would love extra data on enforcement and sources for measures such because the handgun freeze.

He fully supported a crackdown on fake weapons, which he stated were a "big challenge."

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

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

He said authorities were not utilizing the tools they already had to deal with gun violence, akin to calling people listed as references on gun license applications.

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

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