Canada introduces regulation 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 buy of handguns as a part of a gun control bundle that will also restrict journal capacities and ban some toys that appear to be guns.

The brand new legislation, which resurrects some measures that were shelved last yr amid a national election, comes just a week after a gunman killed 19 kids and two teachers in their classroom in Uvalde, Texas.

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

Register

"We need solely look south of the border to know that if we do not take action firmly and rapidly it gets worse and worse and will get tougher to counter," he stated.

The handgun freeze would comprise exceptions, together with for elite sport shooters, Olympic athletes and safety guards. Canadians who already own handguns would be allowed to keep them.

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

Canada has stronger gun legislation than the US but while its gun homicide charge is lower than one-fifth the U.S. rate it is greater than that of different rich international locations and has been rising. In 2020 it was 5 times Australia's charge.

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

While the Liberals have a minority of seats in Parliament, the legislation might move with the help of the left-leaning New Democratic Get together.

The deliberate laws would stop anyone topic to a safety order or who has engaged in home violence or stalking from obtaining or protecting a firearms license.

It'll also require long-gun magazines to be completely altered to allow them to by no means hold greater than 5 rounds and can ban the sale and transfer of large-capacity magazines.

The new laws would also ban some toys that appear like actual guns, comparable to airsoft rifles. Final week Toronto police shot and killed a person carrying a pellet gun. learn extra

"As a result of they appear the same as real firearms, police have to deal with them as if they're actual. This has led to tragic penalties," Justice Minister David Lametti instructed reporters.

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

He fully supported a crackdown on faux guns, which he stated have been a "huge problem."

"You can't distinguish between what's a replica firearm and what's an actual firearm, particularly when these incidences involving replica firearms happen typically in very dynamic, rapidly evolving circumstances."

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

He mentioned authorities weren't using the tools they already had to sort out gun violence, such as calling folks listed as references on gun license applications.

Register

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

Our Requirements: The Thomson Reuters Belief Ideas.