Canadian Prime Minister on Monday introduced a legislation that will put a national freeze on handgun ownership in the country, days after 19 children and two teachers were gunned down at a school in Uvalde, Texas, in the neighbouring United States.
This is not a blanket ban on handguns but if passed, the new law will “prevent individuals from bringing newly acquired handguns into Canada and from buying, selling, and transferring handguns within the country,” according to a statement from the prime minister’s office.
“We need only look south of the border to know that if we do not take action, firmly and rapidly, it gets worse and worse and more difficult to counter,” Trudeau said during a press conference in Ottawa on Monday, referring to the dramatic rise in gun violence in the US.
Essentially, he said, Canada was “capping the market for handguns.”
The proposed bill also includes other measures like taking away firearms licenses of gun owners involved in acts of domestic violence or criminal harassment, such as stalking, countering gun smuggling and trafficking.
It will also create a new “red flag” law that will enable courts to require that individuals considered a danger to themselves or others surrender their firearms to law enforcement, while protecting the safety of the individual applying to the red flag process.
The government said it will require rifle magazines to be permanently altered so they can never hold more than five rounds and will ban the sale and transfer of large-capacity magazines under the Criminal Code.
Canada already has plans to ban 1,500 types of military-style firearms and offer a mandatory buyback programme that will begin at the end of the year. Trudeau said if someone really wants to keep their assault weapon it will be made completely inoperable.
Canada already expanded background checks.
“One Canadian killed by gun violence is one too many. I’ve seen all too well the tragic cost that gun violence has in our communities across the country. Today, we’re proposing some of the strongest measures in Canadian history to keep guns out of our communities and build a safer future for everyone,” Trudeau said.
The new measures are assured of passing in Canada’s Parliament as the ruling Liberals and leftist opposition New Democrats have enough votes.
Gun violence in Canada, though low when compared to the US, has increased in recent years. According to data from Statistics Canada, after a gradual decrease between 2009 and 2013, the rate of firearm-related homicides has increased since 2013, with a single decline in 2018. As a result, the proportion of homicides that involved a firearm accounted for 26% of all homicides in 2013 to 37% in 2020.
(With inputs from agencies)
