Published: May. 31, 2022,
Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announces new gun control
legislation in Ottawa, Ontario, on Monday, May 30, 2022.
(Patrick Doyle/The Canadian Press via AP)AP
By Chris McLaughlin | cmclaughlin@masslive.com
Just one week after a mass shooting at an elementary school across the border in the United States killed 19 children and two teachers, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is proposing “some of the strongest gun control measures in over 40 years” for his nation.
The proposed legislation would include implementing a national freeze on handguns, taking away firearms licenses of those involved in acts of domestic violence or criminal harassment — such as stalking — and increasing criminal penalties for gun smuggling and trafficking, according to a release from Trudeau’s office.
The handgun freeze would prevent individuals from bringing newly acquired handguns into Canada and prevent the buying, selling or transferring of handguns within the country, the prime minister’s office added.
The legislation would also provide law enforcement with more tools to investigate firearms crimes and strengthen border security measures, the release said. The United States is Canada’s only land border.
“One Canadian killed by gun violence is one too many. I’ve seen all too well the tragic cost that gun violence has in our communities across the country. Today, we’re proposing some of the strongest measures in Canadian history to keep guns out of our communities and build a safer future for everyone,” Trudeau said according to the release.
The proposal would also create a new “red flag” law that would allow courts to require that individuals considered a danger to themselves or others surrender their firearms to law enforcement — a move meant to address intimate partner violence, gender-based violence and self-harm involving firearms.
The Associated Press said this red flag law would also guard the safety of those applying through the process by protecting their identities — often those who are women in danger of domestic abuse.
In addition to the legislation, Canada’s government will require that magazines for long-guns be permanently altered so that they cannot hold more than five rounds and will also ban the sale and transfer of large capacity magazines under the country’s Criminal Code.
“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,” Trudeau’s office said.
In 2020, Trudeau announced a ban on over 1,500 models and variants of assault-style firearms, with a buyback program set to be introduced to offer “fair compensation to affected owners and businesses,” the release added. The country has also already expanded background checks as part of its gun control laws.
The buyback program is slated to begin at the end of the year according to the AP, and is mandatory, however, if a gun owner insists on keeping their assault weapon it will be made completely inoperable Trudeau said.
Measures such as the handgun freeze are expected to come into force in Fall 2022, Trudeau’s office said, adding that any type of military-style assault weapon will be prohibited when they enter the market going forward.
“We will continue working to ensure any new weapons that fit the definition of assault-style weapon are captured,” the prime minister’s office said.
For its 2021 budget, Canada provided $312 million in new funding to increase firearms tracing capacity and to implement stronger border control measures to prevent smuggling and trafficking.
“Law enforcement agencies seized more than double the number of firearms at the border in 2021, compared to 2020, which is also the highest number of firearms seized in recent years,” Trudeau’s office said.
The prime minister’s office added that handguns were present in the majority of firearm-related violent crimes in the decade between 2009 and 2020 at 59% and that in 2018 firearms were present in over 600 intimate partner violence incidents in the nation.
“Victims of intimate partner violence are approximately five times more likely to be killed when a firearm is present in the home,” Trudeau’s office said.
While Canada has fewer mass shootings than the United States due to a lack of easy access to guns and a smaller population, the AP said, the country is not immune to incidents of mass shootings.
In Nova Scotia in April 2020, a rampage by a gunman disguised as a police officer across multiple locations became the deadliest shooting attack in the country’s history after the 1989 shooting at Montreal’s École Polytechnique.
The Nova Scotia attack prompted Canada’s initial increased gun control action in 2020.
“In Canada, gun ownership is a privilege not a right,” Bill Blair, Canada’s minister of emergency preparedness said per the AP, who added that guns are often smuggled into Canada from the U.S. — a country with one of the world’s largest small arms arsenals.
The legislation proposed by Trudeau is assured to pass Canada’s parliament thanks to the prime minister’s ruling Liberal party and the leftist opposition New Democrats having enough votes, the AP said.
By Chris McLaughlin | cmclaughlin@masslive.com
Just one week after a mass shooting at an elementary school across the border in the United States killed 19 children and two teachers, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is proposing “some of the strongest gun control measures in over 40 years” for his nation.
The proposed legislation would include implementing a national freeze on handguns, taking away firearms licenses of those involved in acts of domestic violence or criminal harassment — such as stalking — and increasing criminal penalties for gun smuggling and trafficking, according to a release from Trudeau’s office.
The handgun freeze would prevent individuals from bringing newly acquired handguns into Canada and prevent the buying, selling or transferring of handguns within the country, the prime minister’s office added.
The legislation would also provide law enforcement with more tools to investigate firearms crimes and strengthen border security measures, the release said. The United States is Canada’s only land border.
“One Canadian killed by gun violence is one too many. I’ve seen all too well the tragic cost that gun violence has in our communities across the country. Today, we’re proposing some of the strongest measures in Canadian history to keep guns out of our communities and build a safer future for everyone,” Trudeau said according to the release.
The proposal would also create a new “red flag” law that would allow courts to require that individuals considered a danger to themselves or others surrender their firearms to law enforcement — a move meant to address intimate partner violence, gender-based violence and self-harm involving firearms.
The Associated Press said this red flag law would also guard the safety of those applying through the process by protecting their identities — often those who are women in danger of domestic abuse.
In addition to the legislation, Canada’s government will require that magazines for long-guns be permanently altered so that they cannot hold more than five rounds and will also ban the sale and transfer of large capacity magazines under the country’s Criminal Code.
“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,” Trudeau’s office said.
In 2020, Trudeau announced a ban on over 1,500 models and variants of assault-style firearms, with a buyback program set to be introduced to offer “fair compensation to affected owners and businesses,” the release added. The country has also already expanded background checks as part of its gun control laws.
The buyback program is slated to begin at the end of the year according to the AP, and is mandatory, however, if a gun owner insists on keeping their assault weapon it will be made completely inoperable Trudeau said.
Measures such as the handgun freeze are expected to come into force in Fall 2022, Trudeau’s office said, adding that any type of military-style assault weapon will be prohibited when they enter the market going forward.
“We will continue working to ensure any new weapons that fit the definition of assault-style weapon are captured,” the prime minister’s office said.
For its 2021 budget, Canada provided $312 million in new funding to increase firearms tracing capacity and to implement stronger border control measures to prevent smuggling and trafficking.
“Law enforcement agencies seized more than double the number of firearms at the border in 2021, compared to 2020, which is also the highest number of firearms seized in recent years,” Trudeau’s office said.
The prime minister’s office added that handguns were present in the majority of firearm-related violent crimes in the decade between 2009 and 2020 at 59% and that in 2018 firearms were present in over 600 intimate partner violence incidents in the nation.
“Victims of intimate partner violence are approximately five times more likely to be killed when a firearm is present in the home,” Trudeau’s office said.
While Canada has fewer mass shootings than the United States due to a lack of easy access to guns and a smaller population, the AP said, the country is not immune to incidents of mass shootings.
In Nova Scotia in April 2020, a rampage by a gunman disguised as a police officer across multiple locations became the deadliest shooting attack in the country’s history after the 1989 shooting at Montreal’s École Polytechnique.
The Nova Scotia attack prompted Canada’s initial increased gun control action in 2020.
“In Canada, gun ownership is a privilege not a right,” Bill Blair, Canada’s minister of emergency preparedness said per the AP, who added that guns are often smuggled into Canada from the U.S. — a country with one of the world’s largest small arms arsenals.
The legislation proposed by Trudeau is assured to pass Canada’s parliament thanks to the prime minister’s ruling Liberal party and the leftist opposition New Democrats having enough votes, the AP said.
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