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 "nationwide freeze" on the sale and buy of handguns as part of a gun management package deal that might additionally restrict magazine capacities and ban some toys that appear to be weapons.

The brand new legislation, which resurrects some measures that were shelved final year amid a nationwide election, comes only a week after a gunman killed 19 children and two teachers of their classroom in Uvalde, Texas.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau instructed reporters the new measures have been wanted as gun violence was increasing.

Register

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

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

Authorities do not anticipate a run on handguns in anticipation of the freeze, in part as a result of they're so closely regulated already, an official mentioned in a briefing.

Canada has stronger gun laws than america but while its gun murder charge is lower than one-fifth the U.S. charge it is larger than that of different wealthy nations and has been rising. In 2020 it was five times Australia's price.

The speed in every of 2020 and 2017 was the nation's highest since at the least 1997, in response to 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 in the wake of a mass shooting in Portapique, Nova Scotia - a move some firearms homeowners say they are contesting in courtroom. Talking alongside Trudeau, Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino confirmed the "imminent launch of the preliminary part" of a program to buy again and compensate house owners of such weapons.

While the Liberals have a minority of seats in Parliament, the legislation may move with the assist of the left-leaning New Democratic Celebration.

The deliberate laws would stop anybody subject to a safety order or who has engaged in home violence or stalking from acquiring or holding a firearms license.

It should also require long-gun magazines to be permanently altered to allow them to never hold more than 5 rounds and will ban the sale and transfer of large-capacity magazines.

The brand new legal guidelines would additionally ban some toys that look like real weapons, resembling airsoft rifles. Last week Toronto police shot and killed a person carrying a pellet gun. learn extra

"Because they look the same as real firearms, police have to deal with them as if they're real. This has led to tragic penalties," Justice Minister David Lametti told reporters.

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

He completely supported a crackdown on faux guns, which he mentioned were a "huge problem."

"You can not distinguish between what's a duplicate firearm and what's an actual firearm, significantly when these incidences involving replica firearms occur usually in very dynamic, shortly evolving circumstances."

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

He stated authorities were not using the tools they already needed to tackle gun violence, akin to calling individuals listed as references on gun license applications.

Register

Reporting by Ismail Shakil in Ottawa and Anna Mehler Paperny in Toronto, Editing by Rosalba O'Brien and Richard Pullin

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Ideas.