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

OTTAWA, Could 30 (Reuters) - Canada's authorities introduced legislation Monday to implement a "nationwide freeze" on the sale and buy of handguns as a part of a gun management package that will additionally restrict journal capacities and ban some toys that appear to be weapons.

The new legislation, which resurrects some measures that had been shelved final year amid a nationwide election, comes just a week after a gunman killed 19 youngsters and two academics of their classroom in Uvalde, Texas.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau advised reporters the new measures were wanted as gun violence was rising.

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"We need only look south of the border to know that if we do not take action firmly and rapidly it will get worse and worse and will get more difficult to counter," he stated.

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

Authorities do not expect a run on handguns in anticipation of the freeze, partially as a result of they are so closely regulated already, an official said in a briefing.

Canada has stronger gun legislation than the United States however whereas its gun homicide rate is lower than one-fifth the U.S. charge it is higher than that of different wealthy international locations and has been rising. In 2020 it was five occasions Australia's price.

The rate in each of 2020 and 2017 was the nation's highest since at least 1997, in keeping with Statistics Canada.

Canada banned the sale and use of some 1,500 fashions of assault weapons, 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 are contesting in courtroom. Speaking alongside Trudeau, Public Security Minister Marco Mendicino confirmed the "imminent launch of the initial section" of a program to buy back and compensate owners of such weapons.

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

The deliberate legislation would stop anyone topic to a protection order or who has engaged in home violence or stalking from acquiring or preserving a firearms license.

It would also require long-gun magazines to be permanently altered to allow them to by no means maintain more than 5 rounds and can ban the sale and transfer of large-capacity magazines.

The brand new laws would also ban some toys that seem like real guns, resembling airsoft rifles. Final week Toronto police shot and killed a man carrying a pellet gun. read extra

"As a result of they look the same as real firearms, police must deal with them as if they are real. This has led to tragic consequences," Justice Minister David Lametti told reporters.

Tom Stamatakis, president of the Canadian Police Association, welcomed among the moves, such because the "red flag" provisions in the case of home violence, and mentioned he would really like more info on enforcement and resources for measures such as the handgun freeze.

He utterly supported a crackdown on faux guns, which he said had been a "large problem."

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

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

He mentioned authorities were not utilizing the tools they already needed 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

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