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

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

The new laws, which resurrects some measures that had been shelved last 12 months amid a national election, comes only a week after a gunman killed 19 children and two academics of their classroom in Uvalde, Texas.

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

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"We want solely look south of the border to know that if we do not take motion firmly and quickly it will get worse and worse and will get more difficult to counter," he stated.

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

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

Canada has stronger gun laws than the United States but while its gun homicide charge is less than one-fifth the U.S. fee it's greater than that of different wealthy nations and has been rising. In 2020 it was five instances Australia's fee.

The speed in each of 2020 and 2017 was the country's highest since at 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 shooting in Portapique, Nova Scotia - a transfer some firearms house owners say they're contesting in court. Talking alongside Trudeau, Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino confirmed the "imminent launch of the preliminary section" of a program to purchase back and compensate owners of such weapons.

While the Liberals have a minority of seats in Parliament, the legislation might cross with the assist of the left-leaning New Democratic Party.

The planned laws would stop anybody topic to a safety order or who has engaged in home violence or stalking from obtaining or protecting a firearms license.

It is going to additionally require long-gun magazines to be permanently altered so they can never maintain more than 5 rounds and can ban the sale and transfer of large-capacity magazines.

The brand new laws would also ban some toys that seem like actual weapons, comparable to airsoft rifles. Final week Toronto police shot and killed a man carrying a pellet gun. learn more

"Because they give the impression of being the identical as real firearms, police must treat them as if they're real. This has led to tragic consequences," Justice Minister David Lametti advised reporters.

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

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

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

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

He mentioned authorities weren't utilizing the tools they already needed to deal with gun violence, comparable 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, Enhancing by Rosalba O'Brien and Richard Pullin

Our Requirements: The Thomson Reuters Trust Rules.