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

OTTAWA, May 30 (Reuters) - Canada's authorities introduced laws Monday to implement a "national freeze" on the sale and buy of handguns as part of a gun control bundle that will also restrict magazine capacities and ban some toys that appear to be guns.

The new laws, which resurrects some measures that had been shelved last year amid a nationwide election, comes only a week after a gunman killed 19 kids and two academics in their classroom in Uvalde, Texas.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told reporters the brand new measures had been needed as gun violence was rising.

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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 mentioned.

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

Authorities do not expect a run on handguns in anticipation of the freeze, partly because they're so heavily regulated already, an official said in a briefing.

Canada has stronger gun laws than the USA but while its gun murder rate is lower than one-fifth the U.S. rate it's greater than that of different wealthy international locations and has been rising. In 2020 it was five instances Australia's charge.

The speed in every of 2020 and 2017 was the nation's highest since not less than 1997, in keeping with Statistics Canada.

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

Whereas the Liberals have a minority of seats in Parliament, the legislation may cross with the support of the left-leaning New Democratic Get together.

The planned legislation would prevent anybody topic to a safety order or who has engaged in home violence or stalking from obtaining or retaining a firearms license.

It would also require long-gun magazines to be permanently altered to allow them to by no means hold greater than five rounds and can ban the sale and transfer of large-capacity magazines.

The new legal guidelines would also ban some toys that appear like actual weapons, reminiscent of airsoft rifles. Final week Toronto police shot and killed a man carrying a pellet gun. read extra

"Because they appear the identical as actual firearms, police must deal with them as if they're actual. This has led to tragic penalties," Justice Minister David Lametti told reporters.

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

He fully supported a crackdown on faux weapons, which he stated have been a "huge challenge."

"You can not distinguish between what's a replica firearm and what's a real firearm, notably when these incidences involving replica firearms happen often in very dynamic, quickly evolving circumstances."

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

He mentioned authorities were not using the instruments they already had to deal with gun violence, resembling 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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