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

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

The new laws, which resurrects some measures that have been shelved last yr amid a national election, comes just a week after a gunman killed 19 youngsters and two teachers of their classroom in Uvalde, Texas.

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

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"We need 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 harder to counter," he mentioned.

The handgun freeze would contain exceptions, together with for elite sport shooters, Olympic athletes and safety guards. Canadians who already personal handguns would be allowed to keep them.

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

Canada has stronger gun laws than the USA but while its gun homicide rate is less than one-fifth the U.S. charge it's greater than that of other rich international locations and has been rising. In 2020 it was five instances Australia's fee.

The speed in every of 2020 and 2017 was the country's highest since at the very least 1997, in line with 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 capturing in Portapique, Nova Scotia - a transfer some firearms owners say they are contesting in court. Speaking alongside Trudeau, Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino confirmed the "imminent launch of the preliminary section" of a program to purchase again and compensate house owners of such weapons.

Whereas the Liberals have a minority of seats in Parliament, the laws might cross with the support of the left-leaning New Democratic Party.

The deliberate laws would stop anybody topic to a safety order or who has engaged in domestic violence or stalking from acquiring or protecting a firearms license.

It would additionally require long-gun magazines to be completely altered so they can never maintain more than five rounds and can ban the sale and transfer of large-capacity magazines.

The new legal guidelines would also ban some toys that appear like actual guns, reminiscent of airsoft rifles. Last week Toronto police shot and killed a person carrying a pellet gun. read more

"As a result of they appear the identical as real firearms, police must treat them as if they are actual. This has led to tragic penalties," Justice Minister David Lametti instructed reporters.

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

He completely supported a crackdown on pretend weapons, which he stated have been a "massive problem."

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

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

He mentioned authorities were not using the tools they already had to deal with gun violence, resembling calling people 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

Our Requirements: The Thomson Reuters Trust Ideas.