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

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

The brand new laws, which resurrects some measures that had been shelved final 12 months amid a nationwide election, comes only a week after a gunman killed 19 kids and two academics of their classroom in Uvalde, Texas.

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

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

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

Authorities don't expect 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 america but whereas its gun murder fee is less than one-fifth the U.S. price it is increased than that of different rich countries and has been rising. In 2020 it was five instances Australia's price.

The rate in every of 2020 and 2017 was the country's highest since a minimum of 1997, in accordance with Statistics Canada.

Canada banned the sale and use of some 1,500 fashions of assault weapons, just like the AR-15 rifle, two years in the past in the wake of a mass taking pictures in Portapique, Nova Scotia - a move some firearms homeowners say they are contesting in court docket. Speaking alongside Trudeau, Public Security Minister Marco Mendicino confirmed the "imminent launch of the preliminary phase" 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 pass with the assist of the left-leaning New Democratic Occasion.

The deliberate legislation would prevent anyone topic to a safety order or who has engaged in domestic violence or stalking from obtaining or preserving a firearms license.

It would additionally require long-gun magazines to be permanently altered to allow them to never hold greater than five rounds and can ban the sale and switch of large-capacity magazines.

The brand new legal guidelines would also ban some toys that seem like real guns, corresponding to airsoft rifles. Last week Toronto police shot and killed a person carrying a pellet gun. learn extra

"As a result of they look the identical as real firearms, police must treat them as if they are real. This has led to tragic penalties," Justice Minister David Lametti instructed reporters.

Tom Stamatakis, president of the Canadian Police Association, welcomed some of the moves, such as the "crimson flag" provisions within the case of domestic violence, and mentioned he would love extra information on enforcement and assets for measures such as the handgun freeze.

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

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

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

He stated authorities weren't using the tools they already had to tackle gun violence, comparable 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, Editing by Rosalba O'Brien and Richard Pullin

Our Requirements: The Thomson Reuters Trust Ideas.