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

OTTAWA, May 30 (Reuters) - Canada's authorities introduced legislation Monday to implement a "nationwide freeze" on the sale and purchase of handguns as a part of a gun management package that will additionally limit journal capacities and ban some toys that seem like guns.

The new laws, which resurrects some measures that had been shelved last year amid a nationwide election, comes just 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 have been wanted as gun violence was growing.

Register

"We need solely look south of the border to know that if we do not take motion firmly and quickly it gets worse and worse and will get harder to counter," he mentioned.

The handgun freeze would comprise exceptions, including for elite sport shooters, Olympic athletes and safety 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 because they're so heavily regulated already, an official stated in a briefing.

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

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

Canada banned the sale and use of some 1,500 fashions of assault weapons, like the AR-15 rifle, two years ago within the wake of a mass taking pictures in Portapique, Nova Scotia - a transfer some firearms homeowners say they are contesting in court docket. Talking alongside Trudeau, Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino confirmed the "imminent launch of the initial part" of a program to buy again and compensate house owners 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 Get together.

The planned legislation would forestall anyone topic to a safety order or who has engaged in home violence or stalking from acquiring or protecting a firearms license.

It would also require long-gun magazines to be permanently altered to allow them to by no means maintain greater than five rounds and can ban the sale and switch of large-capacity magazines.

The brand new legal guidelines would additionally ban some toys that appear like real weapons, comparable to airsoft rifles. Final week Toronto police shot and killed a person carrying a pellet gun. learn extra

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

Tom Stamatakis, president of the Canadian Police Affiliation, welcomed a number of the moves, such because the "pink flag" provisions in the case of domestic violence, and said he would really like extra data on enforcement and sources for measures such as the handgun freeze.

He completely supported a crackdown on pretend weapons, which he said had been a "massive challenge."

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

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

He said authorities were not using the tools they already had to sort out gun violence, reminiscent of calling people listed as references on gun license purposes.

Register

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

Our Requirements: The Thomson Reuters Trust Rules.