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

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

The new legislation, which resurrects some measures that have been shelved final yr amid a national election, comes just a week after a gunman killed 19 children and two teachers of 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 solely look south of the border to know that if we don't take motion firmly and quickly it gets worse and worse and will get more difficult to counter," he stated.

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

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

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

The rate in every of 2020 and 2017 was the nation's highest since at the very least 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 within the wake of a mass capturing in Portapique, Nova Scotia - a move some firearms owners say they're contesting in court. Speaking alongside Trudeau, Public Security Minister Marco Mendicino confirmed the "imminent launch of the preliminary phase" of a program to purchase again and compensate owners of such weapons.

Whereas the Liberals have a minority of seats in Parliament, the legislation could go with the support of the left-leaning New Democratic Celebration.

The planned laws would forestall anyone subject to a protection order or who has engaged in domestic violence or stalking from acquiring or protecting a firearms license.

It's going to additionally require long-gun magazines to be completely altered to allow them to never hold greater than five rounds and will ban the sale and switch of large-capacity magazines.

The new legal guidelines would additionally ban some toys that appear like real weapons, such as airsoft rifles. Final week Toronto police shot and killed a person carrying a pellet gun. read extra

"Because they give the impression of being the same as actual firearms, police must treat them as if they are actual. This has led to tragic penalties," Justice Minister David Lametti advised reporters.

Tom Stamatakis, president of the Canadian Police Association, welcomed a number of the strikes, such as the "purple flag" provisions in the case of domestic violence, and said he would love extra info on enforcement and resources for measures such as the handgun freeze.

He utterly supported a crackdown on pretend guns, which he said have been a "huge problem."

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

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

He stated authorities weren't utilizing the instruments they already had to sort out gun violence, equivalent to calling people listed as references on gun license applications.

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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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