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

OTTAWA, Might 30 (Reuters) - Canada's authorities launched laws Monday to implement a "national freeze" on the sale and buy of handguns as part of a gun management bundle that would additionally restrict magazine capacities and ban some toys that look like weapons.

The new laws, which resurrects some measures that have been shelved last yr amid a nationwide election, comes only a week after a gunman killed 19 kids and two lecturers in their classroom in Uvalde, Texas.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau instructed reporters the brand new measures have been needed as gun violence was increasing.

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"We want only look south of the border to know that if we do not take motion firmly and quickly it gets worse and worse and gets harder to counter," he said.

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 maintain them.

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

Canada has stronger gun legislation than the US but whereas its gun murder charge is lower than one-fifth the U.S. charge it is larger than that of different rich international locations and has been rising. In 2020 it was five times Australia's fee.

The rate in each of 2020 and 2017 was the country's highest since at the very least 1997, according to Statistics Canada.

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

Whereas the Liberals have a minority of seats in Parliament, the laws could go with the assist of the left-leaning New Democratic Social gathering.

The planned laws would forestall anyone subject to a protection order or who has engaged in home violence or stalking from acquiring or keeping a firearms license.

It will also require long-gun magazines to be permanently altered to allow them to by no means hold greater than five rounds and will ban the sale and switch of large-capacity magazines.

The new legal guidelines would additionally ban some toys that appear like actual weapons, equivalent to airsoft rifles. Last week Toronto police shot and killed a person carrying a pellet gun. learn more

"As a result of they look the same as actual firearms, police have to treat them as if they're actual. This has led to tragic penalties," Justice Minister David Lametti told reporters.

Tom Stamatakis, president of the Canadian Police Association, welcomed a number of the moves, such as the "red flag" provisions in the case of home violence, and mentioned he would like extra data on enforcement and resources for measures such because the handgun freeze.

He utterly supported a crackdown on fake weapons, which he stated have been a "large challenge."

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

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

He stated authorities weren't using the instruments they already had to deal with gun violence, resembling calling individuals listed as references on gun license applications.

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

Our Requirements: The Thomson Reuters Trust Ideas.