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

OTTAWA, Might 30 (Reuters) - Canada's authorities introduced legislation Monday to implement a "national freeze" on the sale and purchase of handguns as part of a gun management package that might also restrict journal capacities and ban some toys that appear like weapons.

The brand new legislation, which resurrects some measures that have been shelved final yr amid a nationwide election, comes just a week after a gunman killed 19 youngsters and two teachers of their classroom in Uvalde, Texas.

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

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"We'd like solely look south of the border to know that if we don't take motion firmly and rapidly it will get worse and worse and will get tougher to counter," he stated.

The handgun freeze would contain exceptions, together with for elite sport shooters, Olympic athletes and security guards. Canadians who already personal 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 said in a briefing.

Canada has stronger gun laws than the United States however while its gun homicide fee is lower than one-fifth the U.S. price it is greater than that of other wealthy international locations and has been rising. In 2020 it was 5 times Australia's fee.

The speed in each of 2020 and 2017 was the nation's highest since at the very least 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 ago in the wake of a mass capturing in Portapique, Nova Scotia - a transfer some firearms house owners say they're contesting in court. Talking alongside Trudeau, Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino confirmed the "imminent launch of the preliminary section" of a program to buy back and compensate homeowners of such weapons.

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

The deliberate legislation would stop anyone topic to a protection order or who has engaged in home violence or stalking from obtaining or holding a firearms license.

It's going to additionally require long-gun magazines to be permanently altered so they can never maintain more than 5 rounds and will ban the sale and transfer of large-capacity magazines.

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

"Because they look the identical 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 as the "red flag" provisions within the case of home violence, and mentioned he would love extra data on enforcement and sources for measures such as the handgun freeze.

He utterly supported a crackdown on fake weapons, which he said were a "huge problem."

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

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

He stated authorities were not using the instruments they already needed to tackle gun violence, equivalent 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

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