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

OTTAWA, Could 30 (Reuters) - Canada's authorities introduced laws Monday to implement a "nationwide freeze" on the sale and buy of handguns as a part of a gun control package deal that will also restrict magazine capacities and ban some toys that look like weapons.

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

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau advised reporters the new measures had been needed as gun violence was rising.

Register

"We want 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 more difficult to counter," he stated.

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

Authorities do not count on a run on handguns in anticipation of the freeze, in part because they're so closely regulated already, an official stated in a briefing.

Canada has stronger gun laws than the USA however whereas its gun murder fee is less than one-fifth the U.S. price it's greater than that of different wealthy nations and has been rising. In 2020 it was five instances Australia's charge.

The speed in every of 2020 and 2017 was the nation's highest since at the very least 1997, in line with Statistics Canada.

Canada banned the sale and use of some 1,500 models of assault weapons, like the AR-15 rifle, two years ago in the wake of a mass capturing in Portapique, Nova Scotia - a move some firearms owners say they're contesting in court. Speaking alongside Trudeau, Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino confirmed the "imminent launch of the preliminary section" of a program to purchase again and compensate house owners of such weapons.

Whereas the Liberals have a minority of seats in Parliament, the laws could go with the support of the left-leaning New Democratic Celebration.

The planned legislation would stop anybody subject to a safety order or who has engaged in domestic violence or stalking from acquiring or retaining a firearms license.

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

The brand new laws would also ban some toys that appear to be real weapons, resembling airsoft rifles. Final week Toronto police shot and killed a man carrying a pellet gun. learn more

"As a result of they give the impression of being the identical as real firearms, police have 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 Affiliation, welcomed a few of the strikes, such as the "purple flag" provisions in the case of home violence, and said he would love extra data on enforcement and assets for measures such because the handgun freeze.

He fully supported a crackdown on pretend weapons, which he said have been a "huge challenge."

"You can not distinguish between what's a duplicate firearm and what's a real firearm, notably when these incidences involving duplicate firearms occur usually in very dynamic, shortly evolving circumstances."

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

He said authorities weren't utilizing the instruments they already needed to sort out gun violence, comparable to calling people listed as references on gun license functions.

Register

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

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Belief Ideas.