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

OTTAWA, Could 30 (Reuters) - Canada's government launched laws Monday to implement a "nationwide freeze" on the sale and purchase of handguns as a part of a gun control package that may also restrict magazine capacities and ban some toys that appear like guns.

The brand new legislation, which resurrects some measures that had been shelved last year amid a nationwide election, comes only a week after a gunman killed 19 children and two lecturers of their classroom in Uvalde, Texas.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau informed reporters the new measures were wanted as gun violence was growing.

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"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 more difficult to counter," he mentioned.

The handgun freeze would contain 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 expect a run on handguns in anticipation of the freeze, partially because they're so closely regulated already, an official stated in a briefing.

Canada has stronger gun laws than america but whereas its gun homicide fee is lower than one-fifth the U.S. charge it's larger than that of different wealthy countries and has been rising. In 2020 it was 5 instances Australia's price.

The speed in every of 2020 and 2017 was the nation's highest since at the least 1997, in accordance 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 in the wake of a mass capturing in Portapique, Nova Scotia - a move some firearms house owners say they are contesting in courtroom. Speaking alongside Trudeau, Public Security Minister Marco Mendicino confirmed the "imminent launch of the preliminary part" of a program to purchase again and compensate owners of such weapons.

Whereas the Liberals have a minority of seats in Parliament, the legislation could go with the help of the left-leaning New Democratic Celebration.

The deliberate laws would prevent anyone subject to a protection order or who has engaged in domestic violence or stalking from obtaining or maintaining a firearms license.

It's going to also require long-gun magazines to be permanently altered to allow them to by no means maintain greater than 5 rounds and can ban the sale and switch of large-capacity magazines.

The new laws would also ban some toys that appear to be actual guns, akin to airsoft rifles. Final week Toronto police shot and killed a person carrying a pellet gun. read extra

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

Tom Stamatakis, president of the Canadian Police Association, welcomed a number of the strikes, such as the "crimson flag" provisions within the case of domestic violence, and said he would really like extra info on enforcement and resources for measures such because the handgun freeze.

He fully supported a crackdown on faux guns, which he said had been a "huge challenge."

"You cannot distinguish between what's a replica firearm and what's a real firearm, particularly when these incidences involving reproduction firearms occur typically in very dynamic, quickly evolving circumstances."

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

He stated authorities weren't using the instruments they already needed to tackle gun violence, comparable to calling individuals listed as references on gun license applications.

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

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