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

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

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

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

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"We want only look south of the border to know that if we don't take action firmly and quickly it gets worse and worse and gets harder to counter," he stated.

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

Authorities do not expect a run on handguns in anticipation of the freeze, partly because they are so closely regulated already, an official stated in a briefing.

Canada has stronger gun laws than the USA but whereas its gun homicide charge is lower than one-fifth the U.S. price it is greater than that of other rich nations and has been rising. In 2020 it was five times Australia's price.

The speed in every of 2020 and 2017 was the country's highest since at the very least 1997, in response to 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 in the wake of a mass capturing in Portapique, Nova Scotia - a transfer some firearms house owners say they're contesting in courtroom. Talking alongside Trudeau, Public Security Minister Marco Mendicino confirmed the "imminent launch of the initial section" of a program to purchase back and compensate house 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 Celebration.

The deliberate laws would prevent anybody subject to a protection order or who has engaged in domestic violence or stalking from acquiring or protecting a firearms license.

It is going to additionally require long-gun magazines to be completely altered to allow them to never maintain more than 5 rounds and can ban the sale and switch of large-capacity magazines.

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

"As a result of they look the identical as real firearms, police must treat them as if they're actual. This has led to tragic consequences," Justice Minister David Lametti advised reporters.

Tom Stamatakis, president of the Canadian Police Association, welcomed among the strikes, such because the "crimson flag" provisions within the case of home violence, and mentioned he would love more data on enforcement and sources for measures such because the handgun freeze.

He completely supported a crackdown on fake weapons, which he said were a "massive problem."

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

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

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

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

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