The federal authorities’s promised nationwide “freeze” on the sale, buy and switch of handguns takes effect Friday — a part of Ottawa’s plan to restrict entry to firearms to tamp down on a spike in crime.
Under the rules, folks can nonetheless personal and use their registered handguns and promote or switch handguns to “exempted people or companies.”
Requests to switch a handgun submitted earlier than today’s date will nonetheless be processed, the federal government mentioned.
Authorized companies can proceed to import and promote handguns to different eligible companies (like museums and the film business, amongst others), legislation enforcement, defence personnel and different exempted people.
According to the federal government, exempted people embrace anybody who already holds an authorization to hold handguns — which requires permission from the Canadian Firearms Program of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police — and individuals who prepare, compete or coach in a handgun capturing self-discipline that may be a program of the International Olympic Committee or the International Paralympic Committee.
Everyone else will not be capable of legally purchase a handgun after Friday.
Reducing firearm-related crimes
Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino touted the freeze in a social media submit, saying the brand new guidelines will preserve handguns “off our streets.”
According to nationwide crime information, handguns had been the firearms most modern in firearm-related violent crimes between 2009 and 2020.
Firearms rights teams and the opposition Conservatives have been important of the freeze, saying the transfer targets law-abiding residents and companies reasonably than unlawful and smuggled weapons.
The handgun freeze is a part of a broader firearms-control bundle — the federal government’s Bill C-21, which is at present earlier than Parliament. It would permit for the automated elimination of gun licences from folks committing home violence or engaged in legal harassment, similar to stalking, in addition to enhance most penalties for gun smuggling and trafficking to 14 years from 10.