Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced a bill on Monday for a “national freeze on the possession of small arms” such as pistols. The statement was made days after the attacks on the school in Uvalde, United States. Canada had already tightened its gun laws after a massacre in the country in 2020.
“We have passed legislation to nationally freeze the possession of small arms,” Trudeau said at a press conference in the presence of dozens of people close to firearm victims. Said. “This means that it will no longer be possible to buy, sell, transfer or import small arms anywhere in Canada.”
The Canadian government had already banned 1,500 models of military-grade firearms, such as rifles, after the worst attack in the country’s history in eastern Canada’s Nova Scotia in April 2020 that left 23 dead.
Public Safety Minister Marco Mandicino believes that about 1 million small arms are in circulation in the country, most of them illegally imported from the United States.
“Gun violence is a complex problem,” Trudeau said. Said. “But at the end of the day, the calculation is actually very simple: the fewer firearms we have in our communities, the safer we are,” he said.
The announcement comes less than a week after the school massacre in Uvalde, Texas, in which 19 children aged 9 and 11 and two teachers died. The shooter was an 18-year-old boy who had legally bought a machine gun.
Tighten penalties for arms trafficking
Trudeau’s bill also provides for toughening gun trafficking penalties and banning shotgun magazines containing more than five rounds, in addition to preventing anyone involved in domestic violence from obtaining a firearm license.
The Gun Control Coalition, founded in 1989 at the University of Montreal following the deaths of 14 women, celebrated the project. “The proposal to phase out private ownership of small arms is an important step forward and demonstrates that the government is listening to the voices of the victims,” said Wendy Cukier, head of the organization. she said.
The prime minister’s package of laws has been criticized by the conservative opposition.
“The real problem in this country is not strictly framed and controlled law-abiding firearm owners,” he said. radio canada John Brassard, leader of the opposition in the House of Commons.
source: Noticias
