National handgun freeze key feature of new Canadian firearm-control bill
Posted May 30, 2022 6:45 am.
Last Updated May 30, 2022 5:23 pm.
A national freeze on importing, buying or selling handguns is a central feature of firearm-control legislation tabled Monday by the federal Liberals.
The government says the bill would also allow for the removal of gun licences from people involved in acts of domestic violence or criminal harassment, such as stalking.
The government plans to fight gun smuggling and trafficking by increasing criminal penalties, providing more tools to investigate firearms crimes and strengthening border measures.
In addition, Bill C-21 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 says the measure would guard the safety of those applying through the process, often women in danger of domestic abuse, by protecting their identities.
The Liberals also say they will require long-gun magazines to be permanently altered so they can never hold more than five rounds, as well as ban the sale and transfer of large-capacity magazines under the Criminal Code.
In May 2020, the feds banned more than 1,500 types of military-style assault rifles and strengthened gun laws by expanding background checks.
The “assault-style” firearm ban — the government’s flagship gun-control promise to date — involves moving forward on a mandatory buyback of models the government outlawed.
RELATED: Handguns present in majority of firearm-related violent crimes, says StatCan report
The plan has won praise from gun-control advocates, but Conservative MPs and others opposed to the plan have suggested it targets legitimate gun owners rather than preventing illegal firearms from falling into the wrong hands.
The Trudeau government says this bill would bring in the strongest gun-control measures in more than 40 years.
“These are the measures that chiefs of police, families of survivors, doctors, and advocates have been asking us to take, and they build on the many concrete actions we have already taken,” a statement from the prime minister’s office reads. “The Government of Canada will work with provinces, territories, Indigenous communities, and municipalities to implement these measures, and will continue to do whatever it takes to keep guns out of our communities and make Canada a safer country for everyone.”
The regulations tabled are expected to be in effect by the fall of this year, the feds say the public safety minister has already tabled regulatory amendments in both the House of Commons and the Senate.
According to federal data, the number of registered handguns increased by 71 per cent between 2010 and 2020 in Canada with around 1.1 million. The government adds handguns were present in 59 per cent of firearm-related violent crimes between 2009 and 2020.
Speaking about the Robb Elementary School shooting that killed 19 children and two adults in Uvalde, Texas, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Canadians are “remarkably united” in wanting to reduce gun violence” at home.
“That unity is what we’re going to move forward with as we take new steps in the coming weeks on gun control,” Trudeau said at a press conference in Saskatchewan last Tuesday.
