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

OTTAWA, Could 30 (Reuters) - Canada's authorities launched laws Monday to implement a "nationwide freeze" on the sale and purchase of handguns as a part of a gun management package that may also restrict magazine capacities and ban some toys that appear like weapons.

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

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

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"We need only look south of the border to know that if we don't take motion firmly and quickly it will get worse and worse and will get tougher to counter," he mentioned.

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

Authorities don't anticipate a run on handguns in anticipation of the freeze, partially because they are 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 lower than one-fifth the U.S. fee it is greater than that of other rich countries and has been rising. In 2020 it was 5 instances Australia's fee.

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

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

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

The deliberate legislation would forestall anybody topic to a safety order or who has engaged in home violence or stalking from obtaining or protecting a firearms license.

It can additionally require long-gun magazines to be permanently altered to allow them to by no means maintain greater than 5 rounds and can ban the sale and switch of large-capacity magazines.

The new legal guidelines would additionally ban some toys that look like actual guns, comparable to airsoft rifles. Final week Toronto police shot and killed a man carrying a pellet gun. read extra

"Because they give the impression of being the same as actual firearms, police have to treat them as if they're real. This has led to tragic penalties," Justice Minister David Lametti instructed reporters.

Tom Stamatakis, president of the Canadian Police Affiliation, welcomed a few of the moves, such because the "purple flag" provisions within the case of domestic violence, and mentioned he would love extra information on enforcement and resources for measures such as the handgun freeze.

He utterly supported a crackdown on fake guns, which he stated have been a "massive challenge."

"You can't distinguish between what's a duplicate 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, stated the handgun freeze was "absurd."

He said authorities weren't utilizing the tools they already had to tackle gun violence, equivalent 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, Modifying by Rosalba O'Brien and Richard Pullin

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