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

OTTAWA, Could 30 (Reuters) - Canada's authorities launched laws Monday to implement a "nationwide freeze" on the sale and buy of handguns as a part of a gun management package that may also restrict journal capacities and ban some toys that look like weapons.

The brand new laws, which resurrects some measures that have been shelved last 12 months amid a national election, comes only a week after a gunman killed 19 kids 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 increasing.

Register

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

The handgun freeze would contain exceptions, together with for elite sport shooters, Olympic athletes and security guards. Canadians who already own handguns could be allowed to keep them.

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

Canada has stronger gun legislation than the United States however while its gun homicide price is lower than one-fifth the U.S. charge it is larger than that of different rich international locations and has been rising. In 2020 it was five instances Australia's price.

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 models of assault weapons, like the AR-15 rifle, two years in the past in the wake of a mass taking pictures in Portapique, Nova Scotia - a transfer some firearms homeowners say they are contesting in court. Speaking alongside Trudeau, Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino confirmed the "imminent launch of the preliminary part" of a program to purchase back and compensate homeowners of such weapons.

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

The planned laws would prevent anyone subject to a protection order or who has engaged in home violence or stalking from acquiring or retaining a firearms license.

It will also require long-gun magazines to be completely altered to allow them to never maintain greater than five rounds and can ban the sale and transfer of large-capacity magazines.

The new legal guidelines would additionally ban some toys that seem like actual guns, equivalent to airsoft rifles. Last week Toronto police shot and killed a person carrying a pellet gun. read extra

"As a result of they look the same as real firearms, police must treat them as if they are actual. This has led to tragic penalties," Justice Minister David Lametti advised reporters.

Tom Stamatakis, president of the Canadian Police Association, welcomed some of the strikes, such as the "crimson flag" provisions in the case of domestic violence, and said he would love extra info on enforcement and resources for measures such as the handgun freeze.

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

"You cannot 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 top of the Canadian Coalition for Firearm Rights, said the handgun freeze was "absurd."

He stated authorities weren't using the tools they already needed to tackle gun violence, equivalent to calling individuals listed as references on gun license applications.

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 Ideas.