On Monday, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government introduced legislation that would put a freeze on importing, buying, or selling handguns.
Expected to be enacted this fall, the legislation will limit the growth of personally-owned handguns, as a response to the recent turn of events in the US where gun-wielding citizens have wreaked havoc across the country.
Source: NY Times (AP)
“We are capping the number of handguns in this country,” Trudeau said. “It will be illegal to buy, sell, transfer, or import handguns anywhere in Canada.” Trudeau has long had plans to enact tougher gun laws but the introduction of the new measure comes after mass shootings in Uvalde, Texas, and Buffalo, N.Y., this month.
The government plans to fight gun smuggling and trafficking by increasing criminal penalties, providing more tools to investigate firearms crimes, and strengthening border measures. Trudeau said increased funding already helped border officials double the number of smuggled guns confiscated at the U.S. border.
The government also said the bill would also allow for the removal of gun licenses from people involved in acts of domestic violence or criminal harassment, such as stalking.
The bill would create a new “red flag” law allowing courts to require that people considered a danger to themselves or others surrender their firearms to police. The government said the measure would guard the safety of those applying through the process, often women in danger of domestic abuse, by protecting their identities.
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.
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