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

OTTAWA, May 30 (Reuters) - Canada's government introduced laws Monday to implement a "national freeze" on the sale and purchase of handguns as part of a gun control package deal that will additionally limit magazine capacities and ban some toys that appear like weapons.

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

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

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"We need solely look south of the border to know that if we don't take motion firmly and quickly 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 own handguns would be allowed to keep them.

Authorities don't expect a run on handguns in anticipation of the freeze, in part because they are so heavily regulated already, an official said in a briefing.

Canada has stronger gun laws than the US however while its gun murder charge is less than one-fifth the U.S. rate it's higher than that of different rich international locations and has been rising. In 2020 it was five times Australia's charge.

The speed in every of 2020 and 2017 was the nation's highest since at the least 1997, according to Statistics Canada.

Canada banned the sale and use of some 1,500 fashions of assault weapons, like the AR-15 rifle, two years ago in the wake of a mass shooting in Portapique, Nova Scotia - a move some firearms homeowners say they are contesting in court. Speaking alongside Trudeau, Public Security Minister Marco Mendicino confirmed the "imminent launch of the preliminary phase" of a program to purchase again and compensate owners of such weapons.

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

The planned legislation would stop anybody subject to a protection order or who has engaged in domestic violence or stalking from obtaining or keeping a firearms license.

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

The brand new laws would additionally ban some toys that appear to be actual weapons, such as airsoft rifles. Last week Toronto police shot and killed a man carrying a pellet gun. read extra

"Because they appear the identical as actual firearms, police must treat 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 Association, welcomed some of the strikes, such because the "red flag" provisions in the case of home violence, and said he would like extra information on enforcement and resources for measures such because the handgun freeze.

He fully supported a crackdown on faux guns, which he said were a "large challenge."

"You can't distinguish between what's a reproduction firearm and what's a real firearm, notably when these incidences involving duplicate firearms occur typically in very dynamic, quickly evolving circumstances."

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

He said authorities weren't utilizing the tools they already had to tackle gun violence, resembling calling individuals listed as references on gun license functions.

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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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