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

OTTAWA, Might 30 (Reuters) - Canada's authorities launched laws Monday to implement a "nationwide freeze" on the sale and purchase of handguns as part of a gun management package deal that will additionally restrict journal capacities and ban some toys that appear like guns.

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

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

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"We need solely look south of the border to know that if we do not take action firmly and quickly it gets worse and worse and will get more difficult 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 expect a run on handguns in anticipation of the freeze, partially because they're so closely regulated already, an official stated in a briefing.

Canada has stronger gun laws than the USA but whereas its gun murder price is lower than one-fifth the U.S. price it is higher than that of other rich nations and has been rising. In 2020 it was five occasions Australia's rate.

The speed in each of 2020 and 2017 was the country's highest since a minimum of 1997, in accordance with Statistics Canada.

Canada banned the sale and use of some 1,500 models of assault weapons, just like the AR-15 rifle, two years ago in the wake of a mass shooting in Portapique, Nova Scotia - a transfer 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 preliminary part" of a program to buy back and compensate homeowners of such weapons.

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

The planned laws would forestall anybody subject to a safety order or who has engaged in domestic violence or stalking from obtaining or keeping a firearms license.

It can also require long-gun magazines to be permanently altered to allow them to never hold more than five rounds and will ban the sale and transfer of large-capacity magazines.

The brand new legal guidelines would also ban some toys that look like actual weapons, corresponding to airsoft rifles. Final week Toronto police shot and killed a person carrying a pellet gun. read extra

"Because they appear the same as real firearms, police need to deal with them as if they are real. This has led to tragic consequences," Justice Minister David Lametti informed reporters.

Tom Stamatakis, president of the Canadian Police Association, welcomed a number of the strikes, such as the "pink flag" provisions in the case of home violence, and stated he would like extra information on enforcement and sources for measures such as the handgun freeze.

He completely supported a crackdown on pretend weapons, which he mentioned were a "large problem."

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

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

He said authorities were not using the instruments they already needed to sort out gun violence, equivalent 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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