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

OTTAWA, Might 30 (Reuters) - Canada's government launched legislation Monday to implement a "nationwide freeze" on the sale and purchase of handguns as part of a gun control bundle that might additionally limit journal capacities and ban some toys that appear to be guns.

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

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

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

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

Authorities do not count on 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 laws than the USA however whereas its gun homicide fee is lower than one-fifth the U.S. charge it's increased than that of different wealthy nations and has been rising. In 2020 it was five times Australia's charge.

The speed in every of 2020 and 2017 was the nation's highest since at the very 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 in the wake of a mass taking pictures in Portapique, Nova Scotia - a move some firearms house owners say they are contesting in courtroom. Speaking alongside Trudeau, Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino confirmed the "imminent launch of the preliminary section" of a program to purchase again and compensate owners of such weapons.

Whereas the Liberals have a minority of seats in Parliament, the laws might move with the help of the left-leaning New Democratic Party.

The deliberate laws would forestall anyone subject to a protection order or who has engaged in domestic violence or stalking from obtaining or holding a firearms license.

It would additionally require long-gun magazines to be permanently altered to allow them to never hold more than 5 rounds and can ban the sale and switch of large-capacity magazines.

The brand new laws would also ban some toys that appear like real weapons, comparable to airsoft rifles. Last week Toronto police shot and killed a person carrying a pellet gun. learn more

"Because they appear the identical as actual firearms, police have to deal with them as if they're actual. This has led to tragic consequences," Justice Minister David Lametti instructed reporters.

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

He completely supported a crackdown on pretend guns, which he mentioned had been a "huge problem."

"You cannot distinguish between what's a replica firearm and what's an actual firearm, notably when these incidences involving reproduction firearms happen usually in very dynamic, quickly evolving circumstances."

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

He mentioned authorities were not using the instruments they already needed to tackle gun violence, equivalent to calling people listed as references on gun license applications.

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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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