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

OTTAWA, Could 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 management package deal that may also restrict journal capacities and ban some toys that appear to be weapons.

The new legislation, which resurrects some measures that have been shelved last 12 months amid a national election, comes only a week after a gunman killed 19 children and two teachers in their classroom in Uvalde, Texas.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau advised reporters the new measures were needed as gun violence was growing.

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

The handgun freeze would include exceptions, including for elite sport shooters, Olympic athletes and security guards. Canadians who already own handguns can be allowed to keep them.

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

Canada has stronger gun legislation than the United States but whereas its gun murder charge is less than one-fifth the U.S. fee it is larger than that of different rich countries and has been rising. In 2020 it was five times Australia's price.

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

Canada banned the sale and use of some 1,500 fashions of assault weapons, just like the AR-15 rifle, two years ago in the wake of a mass shooting in Portapique, Nova Scotia - a transfer some firearms house owners say they're contesting in courtroom. Talking alongside Trudeau, Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino confirmed the "imminent launch of the initial section" of a program to buy back and compensate house owners of such weapons.

While the Liberals have a minority of seats in Parliament, the laws could cross with the support of the left-leaning New Democratic Occasion.

The deliberate legislation would prevent anybody topic to a protection order or who has engaged in home violence or stalking from obtaining or preserving a firearms license.

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

The new legal guidelines would also ban some toys that seem like actual weapons, corresponding to airsoft rifles. Final week Toronto police shot and killed a man carrying a pellet gun. read extra

"Because they look the identical as actual firearms, police have to treat them as if they're real. This has led to tragic penalties," Justice Minister David Lametti told reporters.

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

He fully supported a crackdown on fake weapons, which he mentioned had been a "large problem."

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

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

He said authorities were not using the tools they already needed to tackle gun violence, such as calling folks 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 Requirements: The Thomson Reuters Trust Rules.