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

OTTAWA, May 30 (Reuters) - Canada's authorities launched laws Monday to implement a "national freeze" on the sale and purchase of handguns as part of a gun control bundle that might additionally restrict magazine capacities and ban some toys that appear like guns.

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

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau advised reporters the new measures have 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 will get more difficult to counter," he said.

The handgun freeze would comprise exceptions, together with for elite sport shooters, Olympic athletes and safety 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 because they are so heavily regulated already, an official mentioned in a briefing.

Canada has stronger gun laws than america but whereas its gun murder rate is lower than one-fifth the U.S. fee it is increased than that of different rich international locations and has been rising. In 2020 it was five instances Australia's rate.

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

Canada banned the sale and use of some 1,500 fashions of assault weapons, just like the AR-15 rifle, two years in the past within the wake of a mass capturing in Portapique, Nova Scotia - a move some firearms homeowners say they are contesting in court docket. Speaking alongside Trudeau, Public Security Minister Marco Mendicino confirmed the "imminent launch of the initial part" of a program to purchase back and compensate house owners of such weapons.

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

The planned laws would forestall anybody topic to a protection order or who has engaged in home violence or stalking from acquiring or holding a firearms license.

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

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

"As a result of they look the identical as actual firearms, police need to deal with them as if they're actual. This has led to tragic consequences," Justice Minister David Lametti told reporters.

Tom Stamatakis, president of the Canadian Police Association, welcomed some of the strikes, such as the "pink flag" provisions in the case of domestic violence, and mentioned he would like more info on enforcement and resources for measures such as the handgun freeze.

He completely supported a crackdown on pretend guns, which he said were a "huge problem."

"You cannot distinguish between what's a reproduction firearm and what's a real firearm, significantly when these incidences involving duplicate firearms happen often in very dynamic, rapidly evolving circumstances."

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

He stated authorities were not using the tools they already needed to deal with gun violence, similar to calling folks listed as references on gun license applications.

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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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