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

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

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

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau instructed reporters the new measures were needed as gun violence was increasing.

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"We want 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 tougher to counter," he stated.

The handgun freeze would comprise exceptions, including for elite sport shooters, Olympic athletes and safety guards. Canadians who already personal handguns would be allowed to maintain them.

Authorities don't count on a run on handguns in anticipation of the freeze, in part as a result of they are so heavily regulated already, an official said in a briefing.

Canada has stronger gun laws than america but while its gun homicide rate is less than one-fifth the U.S. rate it's greater than that of other rich international locations and has been rising. In 2020 it was five times Australia's charge.

The rate in every of 2020 and 2017 was the nation's highest since a minimum of 1997, in keeping with Statistics Canada.

Canada banned the sale and use of some 1,500 models 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 homeowners say they're contesting in court. Speaking alongside Trudeau, Public Security Minister Marco Mendicino confirmed the "imminent launch of the preliminary part" of a program to buy back and compensate owners of such weapons.

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

The planned legislation would prevent anyone subject to a safety order or who has engaged in home violence or stalking from obtaining or conserving a firearms license.

It can additionally require long-gun magazines to be permanently altered to allow them to never hold greater 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 guns, equivalent to airsoft rifles. Last week Toronto police shot and killed a man carrying a pellet gun. read more

"As a result of they give the impression of being the identical as real firearms, police must treat them as if they're actual. This has led to tragic consequences," Justice Minister David Lametti told reporters.

Tom Stamatakis, president of the Canadian Police Association, welcomed a number of the strikes, such because the "pink flag" provisions in the case of domestic violence, and stated he would really like more info on enforcement and assets for measures such because the handgun freeze.

He fully supported a crackdown on faux weapons, which he said were a "massive problem."

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

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

He mentioned authorities were not utilizing the instruments they already had to sort out gun violence, such as calling folks listed as references on gun license functions.

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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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