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

OTTAWA, May 30 (Reuters) - Canada's authorities launched legislation Monday to implement a "nationwide freeze" on the sale and buy of handguns as a part of a gun control package deal that will also limit magazine capacities and ban some toys that appear like weapons.

The brand new laws, which resurrects some measures that have been shelved final year amid a nationwide election, comes just a week after a gunman killed 19 kids and two lecturers of their classroom in Uvalde, Texas.

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

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"We'd like solely look south of the border to know that if we do not take action firmly and quickly it will get worse and worse and gets more difficult to counter," he said.

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

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

Canada has stronger gun legislation than the US however while its gun homicide price is less than one-fifth the U.S. rate it is higher than that of other rich nations and has been rising. In 2020 it was five times Australia's charge.

The speed in each of 2020 and 2017 was the nation's highest since no less than 1997, in response to Statistics Canada.

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

While the Liberals have a minority of seats in Parliament, the legislation might go with the help of the left-leaning New Democratic Get together.

The deliberate legislation would forestall anybody subject to a protection order or who has engaged in domestic violence or stalking from obtaining or maintaining a firearms license.

It can also require long-gun magazines to be permanently altered so they can never hold greater than five rounds and will ban the sale and transfer of large-capacity magazines.

The brand new laws would also ban some toys that appear to be actual weapons, comparable to airsoft rifles. Final week Toronto police shot and killed a person carrying a pellet gun. read more

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

Tom Stamatakis, president of the Canadian Police Affiliation, welcomed some of the moves, such because the "pink flag" provisions in the case of domestic violence, and mentioned he would love extra data on enforcement and resources for measures such as the handgun freeze.

He utterly supported a crackdown on faux weapons, which he mentioned have been a "large challenge."

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

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

He said authorities weren't using the instruments they already needed to sort out gun violence, such as calling individuals 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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