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

OTTAWA, Could 30 (Reuters) - Canada's government introduced laws Monday to implement a "nationwide freeze" on the sale and buy of handguns as part of a gun management bundle that will also limit journal capacities and ban some toys that look like weapons.

The new laws, which resurrects some measures that had been shelved last yr amid a nationwide election, comes only a week after a gunman killed 19 kids and two lecturers in their classroom in Uvalde, Texas.

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

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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 gets worse and worse and gets tougher to counter," he stated.

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

Authorities do not expect a run on handguns in anticipation of the freeze, in part as a result of they are so heavily regulated already, an official stated in a briefing.

Canada has stronger gun legislation than america however whereas its gun homicide rate is lower than one-fifth the U.S. fee it's greater than that of other wealthy nations and has been rising. In 2020 it was five instances Australia's price.

The speed in every of 2020 and 2017 was the nation's highest since at the least 1997, in accordance with 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 owners 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 buy back and compensate homeowners of such weapons.

Whereas the Liberals have a minority of seats in Parliament, the laws may cross with the support of the left-leaning New Democratic Social gathering.

The deliberate legislation would forestall anyone topic to a protection order or who has engaged in domestic violence or stalking from obtaining or maintaining a firearms license.

It should additionally require long-gun magazines to be permanently altered so they can 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 appear like real guns, such as airsoft rifles. Last week Toronto police shot and killed a person 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're actual. This has led to tragic consequences," Justice Minister David Lametti advised reporters.

Tom Stamatakis, president of the Canadian Police Association, welcomed among the moves, such as the "purple flag" provisions in the case of domestic violence, and said he would love more data on enforcement and resources for measures such as the handgun freeze.

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

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

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

He stated authorities were not utilizing the tools they already had to sort out gun violence, similar to calling folks listed as references on gun license functions.

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

Our Requirements: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.