Canada introduces regulation to freeze handgun gross 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 part of a gun management bundle that will also limit journal capacities and ban some toys that appear like weapons.

The new legislation, which resurrects some measures that have been shelved last 12 months amid a national election, comes just a week after a gunman killed 19 kids and two teachers in their classroom in Uvalde, Texas.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau advised reporters the brand new measures have been needed as gun violence was increasing.

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

The handgun freeze would include exceptions, together with for elite sport shooters, Olympic athletes and safety guards. Canadians who already own handguns would be allowed to maintain them.

Authorities don't count on a run on handguns in anticipation of the freeze, partly because they're so heavily regulated already, an official mentioned in a briefing.

Canada has stronger gun legislation than the United States however whereas its gun murder price is less than one-fifth the U.S. fee it is higher than that of other wealthy nations and has been rising. In 2020 it was 5 occasions Australia's rate.

The rate in each of 2020 and 2017 was the country's highest since at the least 1997, in response to Statistics Canada.

Canada banned the sale and use of some 1,500 models of assault weapons, just like the AR-15 rifle, two years in the past within the wake of a mass shooting in Portapique, Nova Scotia - a move some firearms house 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 purchase again and compensate house owners of such weapons.

Whereas the Liberals have a minority of seats in Parliament, the legislation may go with the assist of the left-leaning New Democratic Party.

The planned laws would stop anyone topic to a safety order or who has engaged in home violence or stalking from acquiring or preserving a firearms license.

It will additionally require long-gun magazines to be completely altered so they can never hold greater than 5 rounds and will ban the sale and switch of large-capacity magazines.

The brand new laws would additionally ban some toys that seem like actual weapons, such as airsoft rifles. Final week Toronto police shot and killed a man carrying a pellet gun. learn extra

"As a result of they look the same as actual firearms, police have to deal with them as if they are actual. This has led to tragic consequences," Justice Minister David Lametti advised reporters.

Tom Stamatakis, president of the Canadian Police Affiliation, welcomed among the moves, such as the "pink flag" provisions within the case of domestic violence, and stated he would like more data on enforcement and assets for measures such as the handgun freeze.

He utterly supported a crackdown on faux weapons, which he stated had been a "big challenge."

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

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

He said authorities weren't utilizing the instruments they already had to sort out gun violence, such as calling people listed as references on gun license purposes.

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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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