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

OTTAWA, Could 30 (Reuters) - Canada's authorities launched laws Monday to implement a "nationwide freeze" on the sale and buy of handguns as part of a gun management bundle that would additionally restrict journal capacities and ban some toys that appear to be weapons.

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

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

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"We need 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 gets more difficult to counter," he stated.

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

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

Canada has stronger gun legislation than america but while its gun homicide rate is less than one-fifth the U.S. price it is increased than that of different rich countries and has been rising. In 2020 it was 5 times Australia's price.

The speed in every of 2020 and 2017 was the nation's highest since not less than 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 in the past in the wake of a mass shooting in Portapique, Nova Scotia - a transfer some firearms house owners say they're contesting in courtroom. Speaking alongside Trudeau, Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino confirmed the "imminent launch of the initial phase" of a program to purchase back and compensate homeowners of such weapons.

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

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

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

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

"As a result of they give the impression of being the same as real firearms, police need to treat them as if they're real. This has led to tragic consequences," Justice Minister David Lametti told reporters.

Tom Stamatakis, president of the Canadian Police Affiliation, welcomed among the strikes, such as the "purple flag" provisions within the case of domestic violence, and mentioned he would like extra info on enforcement and resources for measures such because the handgun freeze.

He fully supported a crackdown on fake weapons, which he said have been a "big challenge."

"You can't distinguish between what's a reproduction firearm and what's a real firearm, significantly when these incidences involving replica firearms occur usually in very dynamic, rapidly evolving circumstances."

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

He mentioned authorities were not using the instruments they already had to tackle gun violence, resembling 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, Modifying by Rosalba O'Brien and Richard Pullin

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