“The less firearms there will be in our communities, and the more security will be safe,” said Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau.
Le Monde with AFP
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced on Monday May 30 that he was going to introduce “legislation to apply a national frost on the possession of handguns”, after the recent killings in the neighboring United States.
“This means that it will no longer be possible to buy, sell, transfer or import handguns anywhere in Canada,” he said at a press conference given in Company of several dozen relatives of victims of armed violence. This project must be submitted to Parliament where the Liberal Party of Mr. Trudeau is a minority.
Canada had already prohibited 1,500 models of military-type firearms after a killing in April 2020, the worst in the history of the country, which had killed 23 people in Nova Scotia (east).
Many weapons imported from the United States 2>
The Minister of Public Security, Marco Mendicino, believes that around one million handguns circulate in the country, many of which are illegally imported from the United States.
“Armed violence is a complex problem,” said Trudeau. “But in the end, the calculation is actually very simple: the less firearms there will be in our communities, and the more security will be,” he added.
This announcement comes after the massacre of the Uvalde school in Texas, in which 19 children aged 9 to 11 perished as well as two teachers under the bullets of a teenager who legally bought a rifle of Assault.
The Canadian bill also plans to prevent anyone who is involved in domestic violence from obtaining a weapon -carrying permit, and to tighten penalties for arms trafficking. Rifles chargers that can contain more than five balls will also be prohibited.