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 a part of a gun management bundle that will also limit journal capacities and ban some toys that appear like weapons.

The new laws, which resurrects some measures that had been shelved last 12 months amid a national election, comes only a week after a gunman killed 19 children and two lecturers in their classroom in Uvalde, Texas.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told reporters the brand new measures were wanted as gun violence was rising.

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"We want only look south of the border to know that if we don't take motion firmly and rapidly it will get worse and worse and gets more difficult to counter," he stated.

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 don't 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 legislation than america however whereas its gun homicide rate is lower than one-fifth the U.S. price it's higher than that of different rich countries and has been rising. In 2020 it was 5 occasions Australia's fee.

The speed in each of 2020 and 2017 was the nation's highest since not less than 1997, in line with Statistics Canada.

Canada banned the sale and use of some 1,500 fashions of assault weapons, like the AR-15 rifle, two years ago in the wake of a mass shooting in Portapique, Nova Scotia - a move some firearms house owners say they are contesting in court. Talking alongside Trudeau, Public Security Minister Marco Mendicino confirmed the "imminent launch of the initial section" of a program to buy again and compensate owners of such weapons.

Whereas the Liberals have a minority of seats in Parliament, the legislation might pass with the support of the left-leaning New Democratic Party.

The deliberate legislation would prevent anyone topic to a safety order or who has engaged in home violence or stalking from obtaining or preserving a firearms license.

It'll also require long-gun magazines to be permanently altered to allow them to never hold more than five rounds and can ban the sale and switch of large-capacity magazines.

The brand new legal guidelines would also ban some toys that seem like actual guns, similar to airsoft rifles. Last week Toronto police shot and killed a man carrying a pellet gun. read more

"As a result of they give the impression of being the identical as real firearms, police must deal with them as if they are real. 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 strikes, such as the "purple flag" provisions within the case of home violence, and mentioned he would like extra info on enforcement and resources for measures such because the handgun freeze.

He utterly supported a crackdown on faux guns, which he mentioned had been a "massive problem."

"You can not distinguish between what's a replica firearm and what's a real firearm, particularly when these incidences involving reproduction firearms happen typically in very dynamic, quickly evolving circumstances."

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

He mentioned authorities were not using the tools they already had to tackle gun violence, similar to calling individuals listed as references on gun license functions.

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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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