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

OTTAWA, Could 30 (Reuters) - Canada's government introduced legislation Monday to implement a "national freeze" on the sale and buy of handguns as a part of a gun control package that may additionally limit journal capacities and ban some toys that appear to be weapons.

The new laws, which resurrects some measures that had been shelved last year 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 informed reporters the new measures had been needed as gun violence was growing.

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

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

Authorities don't count on a run on handguns in anticipation of the freeze, partially because they are so heavily regulated already, an official said in a briefing.

Canada has stronger gun laws than the US however while its gun murder rate is lower than one-fifth the U.S. charge it is greater than that of different rich countries and has been rising. In 2020 it was 5 instances Australia's price.

The speed in every of 2020 and 2017 was the nation'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 shooting in Portapique, Nova Scotia - a transfer some firearms house owners say they're contesting in courtroom. Talking alongside Trudeau, Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino confirmed the "imminent launch of the preliminary part" of a program to buy back and compensate homeowners of such weapons.

While the Liberals have a minority of seats in Parliament, the laws could go with the support of the left-leaning New Democratic Get together.

The planned laws would prevent anyone subject to a safety order or who has engaged in home violence or stalking from obtaining or retaining a firearms license.

It's going to also require long-gun magazines to be permanently altered so they can never maintain greater than five rounds and can ban the sale and switch of large-capacity magazines.

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

"As a result of they appear the same as real firearms, police need to treat them as if they are real. This has led to tragic consequences," Justice Minister David Lametti told reporters.

Tom Stamatakis, president of the Canadian Police Affiliation, welcomed some of the strikes, such because the "purple flag" provisions within the case of domestic violence, and stated he would really like more data on enforcement and resources for measures such as the handgun freeze.

He fully supported a crackdown on fake guns, which he mentioned have been a "large problem."

"You cannot distinguish between what's a reproduction firearm and what's a real firearm, significantly when these incidences involving duplicate firearms happen usually in very dynamic, rapidly evolving circumstances."

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

He stated authorities were not utilizing the instruments they already had to sort out gun violence, equivalent to calling folks listed as references on gun license functions.

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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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