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

OTTAWA, Could 30 (Reuters) - Canada's authorities introduced legislation Monday to implement a "national freeze" on the sale and purchase of handguns as a part of a gun control bundle that might also limit magazine capacities and ban some toys that look like guns.

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

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told reporters the new measures had been wanted as gun violence was rising.

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"We'd like 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 mentioned.

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

Authorities do not anticipate a run on handguns in anticipation of the freeze, partially as a result of they are so closely regulated already, an official stated in a briefing.

Canada has stronger gun legislation than the US however whereas its gun murder 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 5 occasions Australia's rate.

The rate in every of 2020 and 2017 was the country's highest since no less than 1997, in keeping with 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 within the wake of a mass capturing in Portapique, Nova Scotia - a move some firearms house owners say they are contesting in court. Speaking alongside Trudeau, Public Security Minister Marco Mendicino confirmed the "imminent launch of the initial part" of a program to purchase back and compensate homeowners of such weapons.

While the Liberals have a minority of seats in Parliament, the legislation could pass with the help of the left-leaning New Democratic Social gathering.

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

It'll also require long-gun magazines to be permanently altered so they can never 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 appear to be actual weapons, similar to airsoft rifles. Final week Toronto police shot and killed a person carrying a pellet gun. read extra

"Because they give the impression of being the identical as actual firearms, police need to deal with them as if they are real. This has led to tragic consequences," Justice Minister David Lametti told reporters.

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

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

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

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

He stated authorities weren't utilizing the tools they already had to deal with gun violence, comparable to calling individuals 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

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Ideas.