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

OTTAWA, Could 30 (Reuters) - Canada's authorities introduced legislation Monday to implement a "nationwide freeze" on the sale and purchase of handguns as a part of a gun management bundle that might also limit magazine capacities and ban some toys that appear to be weapons.

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

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

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"We want solely look south of the border to know that if we do not take motion firmly and rapidly it will get worse and worse and gets more difficult to counter," he said.

The handgun freeze would comprise exceptions, together with for elite sport shooters, Olympic athletes and security guards. Canadians who already own handguns can be allowed to keep them.

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

Canada has stronger gun legislation than the USA however whereas its gun homicide price is lower than one-fifth the U.S. rate it's greater than that of other wealthy countries and has been rising. In 2020 it was 5 occasions Australia's fee.

The rate in each of 2020 and 2017 was the nation's highest since at the least 1997, based on Statistics Canada.

Canada banned the sale and use of some 1,500 models of assault weapons, just like the AR-15 rifle, two years ago in the wake of a mass capturing in Portapique, Nova Scotia - a transfer some firearms owners say they're contesting in court. Talking alongside Trudeau, Public Safety 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 might pass with the help of the left-leaning New Democratic Occasion.

The deliberate laws would stop anyone topic to a protection order or who has engaged in domestic violence or stalking from acquiring or keeping a firearms license.

It's going to also require long-gun magazines to be completely altered to allow them to by no means hold more than five rounds and can ban the sale and transfer of large-capacity magazines.

The brand new legal guidelines would additionally ban some toys that appear like actual weapons, reminiscent of airsoft rifles. Last week Toronto police shot and killed a person carrying a pellet gun. learn extra

"As a result of they give the impression of being the same as actual firearms, police must deal with them as if they are actual. This has led to tragic consequences," Justice Minister David Lametti advised reporters.

Tom Stamatakis, president of the Canadian Police Affiliation, welcomed among the strikes, such because the "crimson flag" provisions in the case of home violence, and said he would like more information on enforcement and sources for measures such because the handgun freeze.

He fully supported a crackdown on fake guns, which he mentioned were a "large problem."

"You can not distinguish between what's a duplicate firearm and what's an actual firearm, significantly when these incidences involving duplicate firearms occur typically in very dynamic, shortly evolving circumstances."

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

He mentioned authorities weren't utilizing the tools they already needed to sort out gun violence, akin to calling individuals 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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