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

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

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

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau instructed reporters the brand new measures had been needed as gun violence was rising.

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"We need only 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 mentioned.

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

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

Canada has stronger gun legislation than the US however whereas its gun murder rate is less than one-fifth the U.S. rate it's larger than that of other rich countries and has been rising. In 2020 it was 5 occasions Australia's fee.

The speed in each of 2020 and 2017 was the nation's highest since no less than 1997, according 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 ago in the wake of a mass capturing in Portapique, Nova Scotia - a transfer some firearms owners say they're contesting in courtroom. Talking alongside Trudeau, Public Security Minister Marco Mendicino confirmed the "imminent launch of the preliminary part" of a program to purchase again and compensate house owners of such weapons.

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

The planned legislation would forestall anyone topic to a protection order or who has engaged in home violence or stalking from obtaining or keeping a firearms license.

It is going to additionally require long-gun magazines to be permanently altered to allow them to never maintain more than 5 rounds and will ban the sale and switch of large-capacity magazines.

The new laws would additionally ban some toys that appear like real weapons, reminiscent of airsoft rifles. Last week Toronto police shot and killed a man carrying a pellet gun. read extra

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

Tom Stamatakis, president of the Canadian Police Association, welcomed a few of the strikes, such because the "purple flag" provisions within the case of home violence, and stated he would love extra info on enforcement and assets for measures such because the handgun freeze.

He completely supported a crackdown on fake guns, which he mentioned have been a "huge challenge."

"You can not distinguish between what's a reproduction firearm and what's an actual firearm, particularly when these incidences involving replica firearms happen 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 stated authorities were not using the tools they already had to deal with gun violence, equivalent to calling people listed as references on gun license functions.

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

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Rules.