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

OTTAWA, May 30 (Reuters) - Canada's government introduced laws Monday to implement a "national freeze" on the sale and purchase of handguns as a part of a gun control package deal that will additionally limit magazine capacities and ban some toys that seem like weapons.

The new legislation, which resurrects some measures that were shelved final 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 advised reporters the new measures were wanted as gun violence was growing.

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"We'd like only look south of the border to know that if we don't take action firmly and rapidly it will get worse and worse and will get harder to counter," he said.

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

Authorities don't expect a run on handguns in anticipation of the freeze, in part as a result of they're so heavily regulated already, an official mentioned in a briefing.

Canada has stronger gun laws than the United States however whereas its gun murder price is lower than one-fifth the U.S. price it's larger than that of other wealthy countries and has been rising. In 2020 it was five instances Australia's charge.

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 models of assault weapons, just like the AR-15 rifle, two years in the past within the wake of a mass taking pictures in Portapique, Nova Scotia - a transfer some firearms house owners say they're contesting in court docket. Talking alongside Trudeau, Public Security Minister Marco Mendicino confirmed the "imminent launch of the initial part" of a program to buy again and compensate owners of such weapons.

While the Liberals have a minority of seats in Parliament, the legislation may pass with the support of the left-leaning New Democratic Social gathering.

The deliberate laws would stop anyone topic to a protection order or who has engaged in domestic violence or stalking from obtaining or conserving a firearms license.

It is going to additionally require long-gun magazines to be completely altered to allow them to never maintain more than five rounds and can ban the sale and transfer of large-capacity magazines.

The brand new laws would also ban some toys that appear like actual guns, corresponding to airsoft rifles. Last week Toronto police shot and killed a person carrying a pellet gun. read more

"Because they look the identical as real firearms, police need to deal with them as if they are actual. This has led to tragic penalties," Justice Minister David Lametti advised reporters.

Tom Stamatakis, president of the Canadian Police Association, welcomed a few of the moves, such as the "crimson flag" provisions in the case of domestic violence, and mentioned he would like more information on enforcement and assets for measures such as the handgun freeze.

He utterly supported a crackdown on fake guns, which he said had been a "big challenge."

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

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

He stated authorities were not utilizing the instruments they already had to deal with gun violence, equivalent to calling people 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

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