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

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

The brand new laws, which resurrects some measures that have been shelved last 12 months amid a nationwide election, comes just a week after a gunman killed 19 youngsters and two academics of their classroom in Uvalde, Texas.

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

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"We want only look south of the border to know that if we don't take action firmly and quickly it will get worse and worse and will get harder to counter," he said.

The handgun freeze would comprise exceptions, including for elite sport shooters, Olympic athletes and security guards. Canadians who already personal handguns could be allowed to keep them.

Authorities don't anticipate a run on handguns in anticipation of the freeze, in part as a result of they are so closely 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 greater than that of other rich international locations and has been rising. In 2020 it was five times Australia's fee.

The rate in every of 2020 and 2017 was the nation'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 shooting in Portapique, Nova Scotia - a move some firearms homeowners say they are contesting in court. Talking alongside Trudeau, Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino confirmed the "imminent launch of the preliminary part" of a program to purchase back and compensate homeowners of such weapons.

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

The deliberate laws would prevent anybody subject to a protection order or who has engaged in home violence or stalking from obtaining or maintaining a firearms license.

It's going to additionally require long-gun magazines to be permanently altered to allow them to by no means maintain more than five rounds and can ban the sale and switch of large-capacity magazines.

The brand new laws would additionally 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. read extra

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

Tom Stamatakis, president of the Canadian Police Association, welcomed among the strikes, such because the "pink flag" provisions within the case of domestic violence, and said he would love more info on enforcement and sources for measures such because the handgun freeze.

He utterly supported a crackdown on pretend guns, which he stated had been a "huge challenge."

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

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

He stated authorities weren't utilizing the tools they already needed to deal with gun violence, similar to calling people listed as references on gun license purposes.

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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 Rules.