Canada introduces legislation 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 a part of a gun control bundle that will also restrict journal capacities and ban some toys that appear to be weapons.

The new legislation, which resurrects some measures that were shelved last year amid a national election, comes just a week after a gunman killed 19 youngsters and two academics in their classroom in Uvalde, Texas.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau instructed reporters the brand 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 rapidly it gets worse and worse and will get harder to counter," he stated.

The handgun freeze would comprise exceptions, together with for elite sport shooters, Olympic athletes and security 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, in part as a result of they are so heavily regulated already, an official stated in a briefing.

Canada has stronger gun laws than the US however while its gun homicide fee is lower than one-fifth the U.S. fee it's increased than that of other rich nations and has been rising. In 2020 it was five occasions Australia's fee.

The rate in each of 2020 and 2017 was the nation's highest since not less than 1997, based on Statistics Canada.

Canada banned the sale and use of some 1,500 models 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 house owners say they are contesting in court. Speaking alongside Trudeau, Public Security Minister Marco Mendicino confirmed the "imminent launch of the initial part" of a program to buy back and compensate house owners of such weapons.

While the Liberals have a minority of seats in Parliament, the laws might pass with the help of the left-leaning New Democratic Get together.

The deliberate laws would prevent anybody subject to a protection order or who has engaged in home violence or stalking from obtaining or keeping a firearms license.

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

The new laws would additionally ban some toys that look like actual weapons, akin to airsoft rifles. Last week Toronto police shot and killed a man carrying a pellet gun. read more

"Because they appear the identical as actual firearms, police must deal with them as if they are actual. This has led to tragic consequences," Justice Minister David Lametti instructed reporters.

Tom Stamatakis, president of the Canadian Police Affiliation, welcomed a number of the moves, such as the "red flag" provisions within the case of home violence, and mentioned he would really like more information on enforcement and resources for measures such as the handgun freeze.

He fully supported a crackdown on faux guns, which he mentioned have been a "massive challenge."

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

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

He mentioned authorities were not utilizing the tools they already had to tackle gun violence, akin 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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