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

OTTAWA, Could 30 (Reuters) - Canada's authorities launched legislation Monday to implement a "national freeze" on the sale and buy of handguns as a part of a gun control bundle that will additionally restrict magazine capacities and ban some toys that seem like weapons.

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

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau informed reporters the brand new measures were needed as gun violence was rising.

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"We need only look south of the border to know that if we do not take action 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 own handguns could be allowed to maintain them.

Authorities don't 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 legislation than the US but whereas its gun murder price is lower than one-fifth the U.S. fee it's greater than that of other rich international locations and has been rising. In 2020 it was 5 occasions Australia's charge.

The speed in each of 2020 and 2017 was the nation's highest since at the least 1997, in line with 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 within the wake of a mass taking pictures in Portapique, Nova Scotia - a move some firearms house owners say they're contesting in court. Talking alongside Trudeau, Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino confirmed the "imminent launch of the initial section" of a program to purchase back and compensate homeowners of such weapons.

While the Liberals have a minority of seats in Parliament, the legislation could move with the support of the left-leaning New Democratic Celebration.

The planned laws would stop anyone topic to a protection order or who has engaged in domestic violence or stalking from obtaining or holding a firearms license.

It can additionally require long-gun magazines to be permanently altered so they can never maintain more than 5 rounds and will ban the sale and switch of large-capacity magazines.

The brand new legal guidelines would also ban some toys that appear like real weapons, resembling airsoft rifles. Final 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 deal with them as if they are real. This has led to tragic consequences," Justice Minister David Lametti advised reporters.

Tom Stamatakis, president of the Canadian Police Affiliation, welcomed some of the moves, such because the "red flag" provisions within the case of home violence, and stated he would love extra data on enforcement and assets for measures such as the handgun freeze.

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

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

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

He stated authorities were not utilizing the instruments they already had to deal with gun violence, comparable to calling people 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

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