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TORONTO – Canada on Monday introduced new arms control legislation that, if approved, would implement a “national freeze” on the purchase, import, transfer and sale of weapons, effectively limiting the number of weapons ‘this guy who already exists in the country.
The bill, which officials here consider “the most significant action on armed violence in a generation,” also includes “red flag” laws that would allow judges to temporarily remove firearms from people they consider a danger to themselves or others and harsher sanctions. for smuggling and arms trafficking.
“We recognize that the vast majority of gun owners in this country are responsible and follow all necessary laws,” Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told reporters in Ottawa. “However, we are facing an unacceptable level of armed violence in our communities.”
The proposed legislation comes after mass shootings in Texas and on the U.S.-Canada border in Buffalo in recent weeks have revived a long-running debate in the United States over whether Congress could act to curb violence. army.
“It simply came to our notice then [gun violence] “It’s getting worse and worse.” Trudeau said.
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Many provisions of the proposed legislation were included in a gun control bill that was introduced last year but not passed before federal elections were called in August. Proponents of gun control criticized his voluntary arms repurchase program, which was voluntary. The Liberals promised stricter arms control measures if re-elected.
These measures enjoy widespread public support here, especially in urban centers. The Liberal Party often uses guns as a wedge problem during federal election campaigns, painting its Conservative counterparts as supporters of easing arms control measures to gain an advantage.
Proponents of gun control have long called for a national ban on handguns. But some provincial and municipal officials have opposed it.
The “freeze” provided for in the proposed legislation is not a ban because people who already own it could continue to have and use it. But they could only transfer them to companies, and firearms officers could not approve the transfer of weapons to people.
The bill is likely to be passed with the support of the New Democratic Party. On Monday, Conservatives criticized liberal arms control efforts, accusing them of targeting law-abiding gun owners unfairly and failing to properly eliminate smuggling of illegal weapons across borders.
“Today’s announcement does not focus on the root cause of gun violence in our cities: illegal weapons smuggled into Canada by criminal gangs,” said Raquel Dancho, a conservative public safety critic. in a tweet. “The prime minister has had 7 years to solve this serious problem, but he continues to chase headlines and bury his head in the sand.”
The measures presented Monday come after the government banned 1,500 brands and models of “military-style assault weapons” in 2020, after a gunman pretended to be a charged police officer in rural Nova Scotia , killing 22 people, including a Royal Canadian Mounted Police officer. in the deadliest mass shooting in the country.
The government said Monday it plans to introduce a mandatory repurchase program that would offer compensation to owners of banned firearms. Details of the program are expected this summer, and the government expects to begin buying weapons, including the AR-15, the type used in the school attack in Texas, later this year.
“It will be difficult,” said Marco Mendicino, Canada’s public safety minister. “But we will get it.”
Trudeau promises gun control legislation after deadliest shooting in Canadian history
Some measures announced on Monday would not require parliamentary approval, but a change in regulations.
While mass shootings are relatively rare here compared to the United States, the rate of gun-related homicides has risen since 2013, according to Statistics Canada. He said the percentage of gun homicides increased from 26% in 2013 to 37% in 2020.
Nearly 60 percent of violent gun-related crimes involve handguns, according to the national statistics agency. But he said there were “many gaps” in the data, including the “source of the firearms used in the crime” and “whether a weapon used in a crime was stolen, bought illegally or smuggled into the country “.
During hearings at a public inquiry this year into the “causes, context and circumstances” of the mass shooting in Nova Scotia, evidence was presented as to the origin of the attacker’s large package of weapons, Gabriel Wortman. hand for hours. – Long assault.
Wortman, a dentist, did not have a firearms license and obtained his weapons illegally. The commission learned that there were “two, and potentially three,” cases in which police received information about their access to firearms. Little, if anything, was done, according to the witness.
Several of the weapons were located and obtained from gun shops in nearby Maine. A friend there told police that Wortman took one or more of the weapons without his knowledge or permission, while giving the shooter a Ruger P89 “as a token of gratitude” for his help with “the withdrawal of trees and other occasional work at his residence “. ”
An AR-15 came from a gun shop in California, but Wortman first saw it at a gun show in Maine and someone else bought it. Witnesses told the RCMP after the shooting that Wortman would dismantle the firearms and roll them up on the deck of his truck to smuggle them to the border.