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

OTTAWA, Could 30 (Reuters) - Canada's government launched laws Monday to implement a "nationwide freeze" on the sale and buy of handguns as part of a gun control package deal that may also restrict magazine capacities and ban some toys that seem like guns.

The new legislation, which resurrects some measures that were shelved final 12 months amid a national election, comes just a week after a gunman killed 19 kids and two teachers of their classroom in Uvalde, Texas.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau informed reporters the new measures were needed as gun violence was rising.

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"We'd like solely look south of the border to know that if we don't take action firmly and quickly it gets worse and worse and will get more difficult to counter," he mentioned.

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

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

Canada has stronger gun legislation than america however whereas its gun murder rate is less than one-fifth the U.S. price it's greater than that of other rich international locations and has been rising. In 2020 it was 5 times Australia's rate.

The speed in every of 2020 and 2017 was the nation's highest since no less than 1997, in accordance with 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 in the wake of a mass taking pictures in Portapique, Nova Scotia - a move some firearms owners say they're contesting in courtroom. Talking alongside Trudeau, Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino confirmed the "imminent launch of the initial phase" of a program to buy back and compensate owners of such weapons.

Whereas the Liberals have a minority of seats in Parliament, the laws may go with the support of the left-leaning New Democratic Get together.

The deliberate legislation would prevent anybody subject to a safety order or who has engaged in home violence or stalking from acquiring or maintaining a firearms license.

It is going to additionally require long-gun magazines to be permanently altered to allow them to by no means maintain more than five rounds and can ban the sale and switch of large-capacity magazines.

The brand new laws would additionally ban some toys that appear to be real weapons, similar to airsoft rifles. Last week Toronto police shot and killed a person carrying a pellet gun. learn extra

"Because they look the same as actual firearms, police have to deal with them as if they are real. This has led to tragic consequences," Justice Minister David Lametti informed reporters.

Tom Stamatakis, president of the Canadian Police Association, welcomed a number of the strikes, such because the "purple flag" provisions in the case of home violence, and said he would really like extra info on enforcement and assets for measures such as the handgun freeze.

He fully supported a crackdown on fake weapons, which he mentioned were a "massive problem."

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

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

He mentioned authorities were not using the tools they already needed to deal with gun violence, comparable to calling folks listed as references on gun license purposes.

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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.