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

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

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 children and two academics of their classroom in Uvalde, Texas.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau instructed reporters the new measures have been wanted as gun violence was growing.

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"We want only 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 tougher to counter," he said.

The handgun freeze would comprise 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 expect a run on handguns in anticipation of the freeze, partially because they're so closely regulated already, an official mentioned in a briefing.

Canada has stronger gun laws than the United States however whereas its gun homicide rate is less than one-fifth the U.S. rate it's higher than that of different rich international locations and has been rising. In 2020 it was 5 occasions Australia's price.

The rate in every of 2020 and 2017 was the country's highest since no less than 1997, in keeping 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 capturing in Portapique, Nova Scotia - a transfer some firearms house owners say they are contesting in court. Talking alongside Trudeau, Public Security Minister Marco Mendicino confirmed the "imminent launch of the initial part" of a program to buy again and compensate owners of such weapons.

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

The planned laws would forestall anyone subject to a protection order or who has engaged in home violence or stalking from obtaining or conserving a firearms license.

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

The brand new legal guidelines would also ban some toys that appear to be real guns, similar to airsoft rifles. Last week Toronto police shot and killed a man carrying a pellet gun. read extra

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

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

He utterly supported a crackdown on pretend weapons, which he stated were a "massive problem."

"You can't distinguish between what's a duplicate firearm and what's a real firearm, significantly when these incidences involving duplicate firearms occur often in very dynamic, rapidly 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 tools they already needed to deal with gun violence, akin to calling folks 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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