The Canadian federal government on Monday announced it has tabled legislation that seeks to freeze the buying, selling, importing and trading of handguns nationwide.

The move is among several firearm-control measures in the new Bill C-21, which targets gun smuggling and trafficking as well as domestic abusers who own firearms, among other restrictions. The bill will also increase penalties for firearm-related offences.

The bill, which brings back some measures that were shelved last year amid a national election, comes just a week after a gunman killed 19 children and two teachers in their classroom in Uvalde, Texas.

The federal government amended regulations to prohibit over 1,500 models of assault-style firearms, particularly semi-automatic rifles, after the Nova Scotia mass shooting in 2020 where a gunman driving a replica police vehicle killed 22 people.

“This is not an easy thing to do, but we all agree it is the responsible thing to do,” Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said while announcing the new measures.

“Other than using firearms for sport shooting and hunting, there is no reason anyone in Canada should need guns in their everyday lives.”

Only those with an authorization to carry certificate from a chief firearms officer — including valuable goods carriers — or elite sport shooters in an Olympic or Paralympic-approved discipline will be exempt from the national freeze.

Authorities do not expect a run-on handguns in anticipation of the freeze, in part because they are so heavily regulated already, an official said in a briefing.

Canada has stronger fire arm legislation than the United States, though its gun homicide rate is less than one-fifth the U.S. rate it is higher than that of other rich countries and has been rising.

Firearm-related homicides however have gone up 37 per cent over the past 11 years and handguns were the most commonly used weapon in such crimes, a report from Statistics Canada has found, but it warns there are large data gaps in information collection.

Bill C-21 also seeks to amend the Criminal Code to create a new “red flag” law allowing courts to require that people considered a danger to themselves or others surrender their firearms to police. Judges will also be able to issue a 30-day emergency order requiring third parties to not provide firearms to those individuals.

The government says the measure would guard the safety of those applying through the court process, often women in danger of domestic abuse, by protecting their identities. The decision to shield identities would be up to a judge’s discretion.
-Globalnews/Reuters