Canada has decided to make the sale of handguns illegal under a new bill that was introduced in Ottawa on Monday following the shooting at a school in Uvalde, Texas.
Flanked by government officials and advocates, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced a “national freeze” on firearms in the country, referring to the rise in homicides in Canada and alluding to recent mass shootings south of the border.
“It will no longer be possible to buy, sell, transfer or import guns anywhere in Canada. In other words, we are limiting the arms market,” Trudeau said.
“People should be free to go to the supermarket, their school or their place of worship without fear.”
It is almost certain that the legislation will be passed by the Parliament of Canada and is expected to be enacted this fall. The country has already unveiled plans to ban 1,500 types of military-style firearms and implement a mandatory high-capacity weapons repurchase program.
Trudeau has long said limiting armed violence in the country was a political priority, but his new legislation came less than a week after the Robb Elementary School shooting and shortly after a hit-and-run in a supermarket Buffalo near the Ontario border.
The homicide rate in Canada has risen in recent years with 743 homicides recorded in 2020. Getty Images / Tim Krochak
“In Canada, gun ownership is a privilege, not a right,” said Bill Blair, Minister of Emergency Preparedness.
“This is a principle that sets us apart from many other countries in the world, especially our colleagues and friends in the South. In Canada, weapons are only intended for use in hunting and sports. “
Under the law, U.S. arms smugglers would be punished with harsher criminal penalties and authorities would have more resources to crack down on arms crossing the border.
Those convicted of domestic violence or criminal harassment would also lose their gun licenses and a “red flag” provision would require people deemed dangerous by the judicial system to hand over their weapons. Rifle loaders should be permanently altered to have a maximum of five rounds under the bill.
President Joe Biden has called on lawmakers to make changes to gun reform. Ron Sachs / CNP / SplashNews.com
“These are actions that doctors, experts and police chiefs have been calling for for years, and we are acting on their advice,” Trudeau said.
The homicide rate in Canada had risen in recent years with 743 homicides recorded in 2020, most since 1991, according to government statistics. That same year, a mass shooting in Nova Scotia left 22 dead.
Tuesday’s tragedy in Texas led President Biden to call on U.S. lawmakers to take action on gun control reform.
“As a nation, we have to ask ourselves when, in the name of God, will we face the gun lobby? When, in the name of God, will we do what we all know needs to be done?” Biden said last week.
With AP cables