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

OTTAWA, Might 30 (Reuters) - Canada's authorities introduced laws Monday to implement a "national freeze" on the sale and purchase of handguns as a part of a gun management package deal that would also restrict journal capacities and ban some toys that appear like weapons.

The new legislation, which resurrects some measures that had been shelved last yr amid a national election, comes only a week after a gunman killed 19 children and two academics in their classroom in Uvalde, Texas.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told reporters the new measures were needed as gun violence was rising.

Register

"We'd like only look south of the border to know that if we don't take motion firmly and rapidly it gets worse and worse and will get tougher to counter," he stated.

The handgun freeze would include exceptions, together with for elite sport shooters, Olympic athletes and security 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, partially as a result of they're so closely regulated already, an official said in a briefing.

Canada has stronger gun laws than the US but whereas its gun murder rate is lower than one-fifth the U.S. rate it's larger than that of different wealthy nations and has been rising. In 2020 it was five instances Australia's charge.

The speed in each of 2020 and 2017 was the nation's highest since at the least 1997, based on 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 taking pictures in Portapique, Nova Scotia - a transfer some firearms house 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 again and compensate owners of such weapons.

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

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

It's going to additionally require long-gun magazines to be completely altered to allow them to by no means hold more than 5 rounds and can ban the sale and transfer of large-capacity magazines.

The new legal guidelines would additionally ban some toys that seem like real weapons, such as airsoft rifles. Final week Toronto police shot and killed a person carrying a pellet gun. read more

"Because they give the impression of being the same as actual firearms, police need to deal with them as if they're actual. This has led to tragic penalties," Justice Minister David Lametti informed reporters.

Tom Stamatakis, president of the Canadian Police Affiliation, welcomed a number of the strikes, such because the "pink flag" provisions in the case of home violence, and stated he would love more information on enforcement and assets for measures such as the handgun freeze.

He fully supported a crackdown on fake guns, which he mentioned had been a "massive problem."

"You can not distinguish between what's a replica firearm and what's a real firearm, significantly when these incidences involving replica firearms happen typically in very dynamic, shortly evolving circumstances."

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

He said authorities weren't utilizing the tools they already needed to deal with gun violence, similar to calling people listed as references on gun license functions.

Register

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

Our Requirements: The Thomson Reuters Belief Principles.