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

OTTAWA, Might 30 (Reuters) - Canada's authorities introduced laws Monday to implement a "nationwide freeze" on the sale and buy of handguns as part of a gun control package that would also limit journal capacities and ban some toys that appear like weapons.

The new legislation, which resurrects some measures that had been shelved last yr amid a nationwide election, comes just a week after a gunman killed 19 youngsters and two academics in their classroom in Uvalde, Texas.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau informed reporters the new measures have been wanted as gun violence was growing.

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"We want only look south of the border to know that if we do not take action firmly and quickly it will get worse and worse and gets tougher to counter," he stated.

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

Authorities do not count on a run on handguns in anticipation of the freeze, in part as a result of they are so closely regulated already, an official mentioned in a briefing.

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

The rate in each of 2020 and 2017 was the nation's highest since at the least 1997, based on Statistics Canada.

Canada banned the sale and use of some 1,500 fashions of assault weapons, like the AR-15 rifle, two years in the past within the wake of a mass capturing in Portapique, Nova Scotia - a move some firearms house owners say they're contesting in court docket. Speaking alongside Trudeau, Public Security Minister Marco Mendicino confirmed the "imminent launch of the initial section" of a program to purchase back and compensate house owners 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 Celebration.

The deliberate laws would stop anyone topic to a safety order or who has engaged in home violence or stalking from acquiring or keeping a firearms license.

It is going to additionally require long-gun magazines to be completely altered so they can never maintain greater than five rounds and will ban the sale and switch of large-capacity magazines.

The brand new legal guidelines would additionally ban some toys that seem like real guns, equivalent to airsoft rifles. Last week Toronto police shot and killed a person carrying a pellet gun. read more

"As a result of they appear the identical as real firearms, police must treat them as if they are real. This has led to tragic consequences," Justice Minister David Lametti instructed reporters.

Tom Stamatakis, president of the Canadian Police Affiliation, welcomed a number of the moves, such as the "pink flag" provisions in the case of domestic violence, and said he would love more information on enforcement and sources for measures such as the handgun freeze.

He fully supported a crackdown on pretend guns, which he said had been a "large problem."

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

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

He stated authorities weren't using the instruments they already needed to deal with gun violence, corresponding to calling individuals listed as references on gun license applications.

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Reporting by Ismail Shakil in Ottawa and Anna Mehler Paperny in Toronto, Editing by Rosalba O'Brien and Richard Pullin

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