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

OTTAWA, Might 30 (Reuters) - Canada's authorities introduced laws Monday to implement a "nationwide freeze" on the sale and buy of handguns as a part of a gun management bundle that might additionally restrict magazine capacities and ban some toys that seem like guns.

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

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

Register

"We need only look south of the border to know that if we don't take action firmly and rapidly it will get worse and worse and will get more difficult to counter," he said.

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

Authorities don't count on a run on handguns in anticipation of the freeze, partly because they are so closely regulated already, an official mentioned in a briefing.

Canada has stronger gun legislation than the USA but while its gun murder rate is less than one-fifth the U.S. rate it's larger than that of different rich countries and has been rising. In 2020 it was 5 times Australia's price.

The speed in every of 2020 and 2017 was the nation's highest since a minimum of 1997, in response to Statistics Canada.

Canada banned the sale and use of some 1,500 fashions of assault weapons, like the AR-15 rifle, two years ago in the wake of a mass shooting in Portapique, Nova Scotia - a transfer some firearms owners say they are contesting in courtroom. Speaking alongside Trudeau, Public Security Minister Marco Mendicino confirmed the "imminent launch of the initial phase" of a program to buy back and compensate owners of such weapons.

While the Liberals have a minority of seats in Parliament, the laws could cross with the assist of the left-leaning New Democratic Social gathering.

The deliberate laws would stop anybody subject to a protection order or who has engaged in home violence or stalking from acquiring or holding a firearms license.

It would additionally require long-gun magazines to be completely altered so they can never maintain greater than five rounds and can ban the sale and transfer of large-capacity magazines.

The new laws would additionally ban some toys that seem like actual guns, resembling airsoft rifles. Final week Toronto police shot and killed a man carrying a pellet gun. read extra

"As a result of they appear the identical as real firearms, police need to treat them as if they're actual. This has led to tragic penalties," Justice Minister David Lametti advised reporters.

Tom Stamatakis, president of the Canadian Police Association, welcomed among the strikes, such as the "crimson flag" provisions within the case of home violence, and stated he would like more info on enforcement and assets for measures such as the handgun freeze.

He fully supported a crackdown on faux weapons, which he mentioned had been a "big problem."

"You cannot distinguish between what's a replica firearm and what's an actual firearm, particularly when these incidences involving duplicate firearms occur often in very dynamic, shortly evolving circumstances."

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

He mentioned authorities weren't using the instruments they already needed to sort out gun violence, similar to calling individuals listed as references on gun license applications.

Register

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

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Rules.