Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced on Monday a proposal to freeze the possession of firearms in Canada, which could effectively prohibit its importation and sale in the country after the recent mass shootings in the neighboring United States.
The bill still has to pass through Parliament, where the Liberals, in government, are a minority.
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“We are introducing legislation to implement a freeze on possession of small arms,” Trudeau told a news conference, accompanied by dozens of families and victims of armed violence.
If the project is approved,it will no longer be possible to buy, sell, transfer or import handguns anywhere in Canadaadded the president. “In other words, we are limiting the market for small arms.”
Days after Canada’s worst mass shooting left 23 dead in a rural Nova Scotia town in April 2020, the government banned the carrying of 1,500 types of military-grade firearms and assault rifles.
Despite this, Trudeau acknowledged on Monday that armed violence continued to increase.
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The state statistics agency reported last week that the number of violent crimes involving firearms accounted for less than 3% of all violent crimes in Canada.
But since 2009 the per capita rate of guns pointed at someone has nearly tripled while the rate of firearms fired with intent to kill or injure has quintupled.
And nearly two-thirds of crimes in urban areas involved handguns.
Public Security Minister Marco Mendicino estimated that there are about a million handguns in canadaa figure significantly higher than a decade ago.
If Parliament approves the bill, the purchase, sale and import of weapons throughout Canada will be prohibited.
In addition, weapons licenses will be withdrawn from those who commit sexist violence or harassment, and criminal sanctions against arms trafficking will be increased, which will go from maximum sentences of 10 to 14 years in prison. It will also prohibit long gun magazines from carrying more than five bullets.
Although the measure does not imply a total ban on the possession of weapons in Canada, it does seek to significantly limit the presence of weapons in the country by freezing their purchase.
‘Complex problem’
“People should be free to go to the supermarket, their school or their place of worship without fear. People should be free to go to the park or to a birthday party without worrying about what might happen to a stray bullet,” Trudeau added. .
“Gun violence is a complex problem,” he emphasized. “But at the end of the day the math is really simple: the fewer guns in our communities, the safer everyone is.“.
For his part, MP Alistair MacGregor, of the New Democratic Party (NDP), critical of public safety, indicated that his party might be willing to work with the Liberals to pass Trudeau’s proposal.
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In case you missed it: We introduced legislation earlier today that, if passed in Parliament, will further strengthen Canada’s gun control laws. For more on what that means and why we’re taking these steps, watch this video and click this link: https://t.co/BYcdjI2mHe pic.twitter.com/2slVfkm6gY
—Justin Trudeau (@JustinTrudeau) May 31, 2022
“We want to believe that today’s (Monday) announcement on gun violence is a priority and not just another political stunt by this government, but there is a pattern of Liberal behavior to use gun violence only when it means scoring points in politics.” MacGregor said in a statement.
Many Conservative party lawmakers criticized the bill as useless.
“The real problem in the country is not law-abiding gun owners, who are heavily regulated,” House of Commons Minority Leader John Brassard told the CBC.
“The real problem in the country has to do with the gangs and criminals who are importing weapons, especially from the United States, using illegal weapons on our streets.“, he explained.
At the end of the day the math is really simple: the fewer guns in our communities, the safer everyone will be.
For her part, the conservative deputy Raquel Dancho, parliamentary critic of her party on public security, supported this position.
“Today’s announcement does not address the real cause of gun violence in our cities: illegal weapons smuggled into Canada by criminal groups,” Dancho tweeted.
The bill also prevents the possession of weapons to people with a history of domestic violence and withdraws the license to carry those who are considered a risk to themselves or to others, and also contemplates harsher penalties for illegal arms trafficking.
(You can read: Controversy: Trump urges citizens to arm themselves after the Texas massacre)
The Canadian Coalition for Arms Control, founded after the death of 14 women at Montreal University in 1989, praised the Prime Minister’s proposal.
“The proposal to eliminate the possession of small arms is a great step forward and shows that the government has listened to the voices of the victims,” said the president of that organization, Wendy Cukier, in a statement.
One Canadian killed by gun violence is one too many. That’s why we’ve banned 1,500 types of military-style assault firearms. And that’s why, today, we’ve introduced legislation to further strengthen gun control in Canada. Thread ⤵️
—Justin Trudeau (@JustinTrudeau) May 30, 2022
AFP and EFE
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