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

OTTAWA, Might 30 (Reuters) - Canada's government introduced laws Monday to implement a "national freeze" on the sale and buy of handguns as part of a gun management package that would additionally restrict journal capacities and ban some toys that appear like guns.

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

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

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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 will get worse and worse and gets more difficult to counter," he said.

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

Authorities do not count on a run on handguns in anticipation of the freeze, partially as a result of they're so heavily regulated already, an official stated in a briefing.

Canada has stronger gun laws than the USA but while its gun homicide price is less than one-fifth the U.S. charge it's increased than that of different rich international locations and has been rising. In 2020 it was 5 occasions Australia's charge.

The speed in each of 2020 and 2017 was the country's highest since at least 1997, in accordance with Statistics Canada.

Canada banned the sale and use of some 1,500 models of assault weapons, just like the AR-15 rifle, two years ago within the wake of a mass shooting in Portapique, Nova Scotia - a move some firearms homeowners say they are contesting in court docket. Speaking alongside Trudeau, Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino confirmed the "imminent launch of the preliminary phase" of a program to buy back and compensate homeowners of such weapons.

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

The planned laws would stop anyone subject to a protection order or who has engaged in domestic violence or stalking from obtaining or preserving a firearms license.

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

The new legal guidelines would additionally ban some toys that appear like actual guns, corresponding to airsoft rifles. Last week Toronto police shot and killed a man carrying a pellet gun. learn extra

"Because they give the impression of being the identical as actual firearms, police need to treat them as if they are actual. This has led to tragic penalties," Justice Minister David Lametti informed reporters.

Tom Stamatakis, president of the Canadian Police Association, welcomed a few of the moves, such as the "pink flag" provisions within the case of domestic violence, and stated he would love extra info on enforcement and assets for measures such because the handgun freeze.

He fully supported a crackdown on fake guns, which he said were a "massive problem."

"You can't distinguish between what's a replica firearm and what's an actual firearm, notably when these incidences involving reproduction firearms happen typically in very dynamic, quickly evolving circumstances."

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

He said authorities were not utilizing the tools they already needed to deal with gun violence, equivalent to 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, Enhancing by Rosalba O'Brien and Richard Pullin

Our Requirements: The Thomson Reuters Trust Rules.