Canada introduces law to freeze handgun sales

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says country is 'capping the market for handguns'

Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announces new gun control legislation in Ottawa, Ontario. AP

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has announced legislation that would freeze handgun sales and imports in the country, following recent mass shootings in the US.

“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 gets more difficult to counter,” Mr Trudeau said on Monday.

The new gun control package would limit magazine capacities and ban some toys that look like guns. It would also prevent anyone who has engaged in domestic violence or is subject to a protection order from obtaining or retaining a firearms licence.

“What this means is that it will no longer be possible to buy, sell, transfer or import handguns anywhere in Canada,” he said.

“In other words, we're capping the market for handguns.”

Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino called the legislation the most significant step Canada had taken in a generation.

“Countries that do a good job of controlling guns do a good job of controlling gun violence,” Mr Mendicino told the Associated Press agency.

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

Canada has stronger gun legislation than the US, but while the rate of gun killings rate is less than a fifth of that in the US, it is higher than that of other rich countries and has been rising. In 2020 it was five times Australia's rate.

The rate in 2020 was the country's highest since at least 1997, according to Statistics Canada.

The Canadian government banned 1,500 types of military-grade style or assault weapons, such as the AR-15, after an April 2020 shooting in Nova Scotia left 23 people dead.

But since 2009 the per capita rate of guns being pointed at someone has nearly tripled, while the rate at which a gun was fired with an intent to kill or wound is up five-fold.

Almost two thirds of gun crimes in urban areas involved handguns.

“People should be free to go to the supermarket, their school or their place of worship without fear,” Mr Trudeau said.

“People should be free to go to the park or to a birthday party without worrying about what might happen from a stray bullet.”

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Agencies contributed to this report