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

OTTAWA, May 30 (Reuters) - Canada's government launched legislation 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 magazine capacities and ban some toys that look like weapons.

The brand new laws, which resurrects some measures that were shelved last year amid a nationwide election, comes just a week after a gunman killed 19 kids and two academics of their classroom in Uvalde, Texas.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau instructed reporters the new measures were wanted as gun violence was growing.

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"We'd like solely look south of the border to know that if we do not take motion firmly and rapidly it will get worse and worse and will get more difficult to counter," he stated.

The handgun freeze would comprise exceptions, together with for elite sport shooters, Olympic athletes and safety guards. Canadians who already personal handguns can 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 closely regulated already, an official said in a briefing.

Canada has stronger gun legislation than the US but whereas its gun homicide rate is less than one-fifth the U.S. price it's larger than that of different rich international locations and has been rising. In 2020 it was 5 times Australia's fee.

The rate in every of 2020 and 2017 was the country's highest since no less than 1997, based on Statistics Canada.

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

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

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

It would also require long-gun magazines to be completely altered to allow them to never maintain greater than 5 rounds and will ban the sale and switch of large-capacity magazines.

The new laws would also ban some toys that appear like real weapons, comparable to airsoft rifles. Last week Toronto police shot and killed a person carrying a pellet gun. read extra

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

Tom Stamatakis, president of the Canadian Police Association, welcomed a few of the strikes, such because the "crimson flag" provisions in the case of home violence, and mentioned he would really like extra information on enforcement and assets for measures such because the handgun freeze.

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

"You can't distinguish between what's a duplicate firearm and what's a real firearm, particularly when these incidences involving duplicate firearms happen typically in very dynamic, shortly evolving circumstances."

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

He mentioned authorities were not using the tools they already needed to deal with gun violence, similar to calling individuals 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

Our Requirements: The Thomson Reuters Trust Ideas.