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

OTTAWA, Could 30 (Reuters) - Canada's authorities launched laws Monday to implement a "nationwide freeze" on the sale and purchase of handguns as a part of a gun control package that may also limit magazine capacities and ban some toys that look like weapons.

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

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

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

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

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

Canada has stronger gun laws than america but while its gun homicide price is lower than one-fifth the U.S. charge it's increased than that of different rich countries and has been rising. In 2020 it was five occasions Australia's fee.

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

Canada banned the sale and use of some 1,500 fashions of assault weapons, just like the AR-15 rifle, two years ago within the wake of a mass taking pictures in Portapique, Nova Scotia - a transfer some firearms house owners say they are contesting in courtroom. Speaking alongside Trudeau, Public Security Minister Marco Mendicino confirmed the "imminent launch of the preliminary phase" of a program to buy back and compensate owners of such weapons.

While the Liberals have a minority of seats in Parliament, the laws could pass with the help of the left-leaning New Democratic Occasion.

The deliberate legislation would forestall anybody subject to a safety order or who has engaged in home violence or stalking from obtaining or keeping a firearms license.

It would additionally require long-gun magazines to be completely altered so they can by no means hold more than five rounds and will ban the sale and switch of large-capacity magazines.

The new legal guidelines would also ban some toys that look like actual guns, such as airsoft rifles. Last week Toronto police shot and killed a person carrying a pellet gun. learn more

"Because they give the impression of being the identical as real firearms, police need to treat them as if they're actual. This has led to tragic penalties," Justice Minister David Lametti advised reporters.

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

He utterly supported a crackdown on fake weapons, which he mentioned had been a "large problem."

"You cannot distinguish between what's a replica firearm and what's an actual firearm, significantly when these incidences involving replica firearms happen usually in very dynamic, shortly evolving circumstances."

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

He said authorities were not using the tools they already needed to sort out gun violence, similar to calling individuals listed as references on gun license purposes.

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

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