The Canadian government on Monday introduced legislation to implement a national freeze on arms sales and purchases as part of an arms control package that would also limit the capacity of magazines and ban some weapons-like toys.
The new legislation comes just a week after a gunman killed 19 children and two teachers in his classroom in Uvalde, Texas.
Here are the key details about Canada’s arms control laws:
ARE WEAPONS ILLEGAL IN CANADA?
No. Canada has much stricter gun laws than the United States, but Canadians can have firearms as long as they have a license. Restricted or prohibited firearms, such as handguns, must also be registered.
Canadians must be over the age of 18 and pass a firearms security course to obtain a license, which is renewed every five years.
Children between the ages of 12 and 17 can obtain a juvenile license, which allows them to borrow unrestricted firearms such as most rifles or shotguns for hunting or shooting competitions, and to purchase ammunition.
Exceptions can be made for children under the age of 12, including indigenous children, who need to hunt to support themselves and their families.
Indigenous people who engage in traditional hunting practices may not need to take a security course with firearms if it is too far away or expensive. Instead, they can apply for alternative certification based on a recommendation from a community elder confirming that they have the necessary knowledge about firearms.
Canada banned the sale and use of some 1,500 models of assault weapons, such as the AR-15 rifle, two years ago following a mass shooting in Portapique, Nova Scotia.
HOW MANY SMEs IN CANADA?
The number of registered handguns in Canada increased by 71 per cent between 2010 and 2020, to about 1.1 million, according to the federal government.
A 2017 small arms survey estimated that there were 12.7 million firearms in civilian possession in Canada, and an estimated 34.7 firearms per 100 people.
WHERE IS WEAPON OWNERSHIP CONCENTRATED?
According to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, more than 2.2 million people had gun licenses in 2020.
Most of them were in Ontario and Quebec, the two most densely populated provinces, followed by the western provinces of Alberta and British Columbia.
A 2019 Angus Reid survey found that most weapons in Canada are found in rural areas and are used for hunting and recreational shooting.
HOW MANY PEOPLE DIE FROM WEAPON VIOLENCE IN CANADA?
The rate of homicides with firearms in Canada is 0.5 per 100,000 people, compared to the U.S. rate of 4.12, said the Institute for Health Metrics and Assessment (IHME) of the University of Washington in a 2021 analysis.
HOW MANY MASSIVE THROWS DID CANADA HAVE RECENTLY DONE?
1989 – 14 female engineering students are killed in the classroom of the Ecole Polytechnique in Montreal, Quebec.
1992: Four professors were shot dead by a colleague at Concordia University, Montreal.
2006: A gunman kills a woman and injures 19 others in a shooting at Dawson College in Montreal.
2016: A teenager kills four people in La Loche, Saskatchewan.
2017: Six Muslims are killed in a shooting at a mosque in Quebec City.
2020: A gunman driving a fake police car kills 13 people and kills nine others in a blaze in Portapique, Nova Scotia.
IS THERE OPPOSITION TO STRICTER WEAPON CONTROL?
A March 2021 poll by law firm Leger found that 66 per cent of respondents said there should be tighter gun control in Canada.
Proponents of gun rights oppose the latest measures. The Canadian Coalition for Firearms Rights called the new legislation a “massive punch.”
Alberta’s gun chief Teri Bryant said the government’s proposed freeze on arms sales would be a “huge intrusion” into property rights and privacy and called it ” virtue signaling “by the government.
He called for the hiring of more firearms officers to ensure a faster and more thorough investigation.
(Report by Nia Williams)
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