Stronger Measures Against Firearms Take Off

As gun violence is globally increasing, Canada is moving forward with new measures as part of a gun-control package designed to better regulate the circulation of firearms, thus reducing the occurrences of tragedies within its territory.

The measures taken include a national freeze on the sale and purchase of handguns, a limit to magazine capacity, and a ban on large-capacity magazines, as well as a ban on toy guns that are too similar to actual firearms.

“You cannot distinguish between what’s a replica firearm and what’s a real firearm, particularly when these incidences involving replica firearms occur often in very dynamic, quickly evolving circumstances,” explains Tom Stamatakis, president of the Canadian Police Association.

Some 1,500 models of assault weapons, like the AR-15 rifle, were banned two years ago following a mass shooting that took place in Nova Scotia, and the Public Safety Minister confirmed the “imminent launch of the initial phase” of a buy-back program to compensate owners who return such weapons. Anyone subject to a protection order wouldn’t be allowed to obtain – nor keep – a firearms license, and neither is anyone who has engaged in domestic violence or stalking. Those measures will improve the already heavily regulated firearms market on Canadian ground.