Canada to ban imports of handguns
Photo of handguns (Illustrative image).
© Dominick Reurer/AFP
Text by: RFI Follow
2 mins
The Canadian government announced on Friday August 5 that it would ban the importation of handguns in an attempt to curb gun violence in the country.
Advertising
Read more
The “
temporary ban
” will be applied from August 19 to individuals and businesses and this, “
until the entry into force of the national freeze
”, specifies Marco Mendicino, the Minister of Public Security, in a press release.
This Bill C-21 could come into force in the fall.
These weapons "
have only one purpose, to kill people
," said Marco Mendicino, during a trip to Etobicoke, in the suburbs of Toronto.
The announcement comes months after Justin Trudeau unveiled a proposed
"national handgun ownership freeze"
in May following recent killings in the United States: the
Uvalde school
shooting in Texas in May. last, a massacre that left 21 dead, including 19 children, and the racist massacre that left ten dead, mostly African-Americans, in Buffalo, New York.
A statement by the Prime Minister who had then pushed Canadians to rush to arms stores, with lines visible in front of these businesses and rapid flows of stocks.
According to government estimates, there are over one million handguns in Canada, for a population of 38 million people.
The group PolySeSouvient, which represents survivors and families of victims of gun violence, welcomed an "
important and innovative measure that will undoubtedly slow the expansion of the Canadian market for handguns pending the passage of the bill
".
REMINDER: According to @StatCan_fra, only 6% of violent crimes with firearms are linked to a criminal organization or a street gang.
According to statistics from @grcrcmppolice, 68% of weapons seized by police across the country (incl. 40% of handguns) come from the 🇨🇦 pic.twitter.com/407Yiyceg3
— PolySeSouvient / PolyRemembers (@Polysesouvient) August 5, 2022
Armed violence that persists
Despite all the measures put in place by Ottawa to try to reduce armed violence, experts remain skeptical about their effectiveness, pointing to the smuggling of weapons from the United States as the real problem.
The measure also comes in the context of an upsurge in crimes related to firearms: this week, three homicides were committed within 24 hours in the Montreal region.
On Wednesday, the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) announced two large seizures in the west of the country of "
ghost firearms
", which have no serial number and are difficult to trace. .
From January 1, 2019 to June 30, 2022, CBSA Pacific Region seized 581 firearms at ports of entry and in international mail shipments.
►
Read also:
In Canada, the national handgun possession freeze project deemed insufficient
Newsletter
Receive all the international news directly in your mailbox
I subscribe
Follow all the international news by downloading the RFI application
google-play-badge_EN
Canada
Crime