Canada’s Trudeau announces national freeze on handgun sales

While the U.S. government hems and haws ahead of scheduled legislative negotiations, Canada’s government is going ahead with a major gun control bill.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced Monday a bill that would limit handgun ownership in the country.

“What this means is that it will no longer be possible to buy, sell, transfer or import handguns anywhere in Canada,” Trudeau said. “In other words, we’re capping the market.”

The bill calls for stricter criminal penalties for gun smuggling and trafficking and also limits long gun magazines to a five-round capacity.

“Other than using firearms for sport shooting and hunting, there is no reason anyone in Canada should need guns in their everyday lives,” he said in a news conference.

“Gun violence is a complex problem, but at the end of the day the math is really quite simple: The fewer the guns in our communities, the safer everyone will be,” Trudeau said.

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“We don’t need assault style weapons that were designed to kill the largest number of people in the shortest amount of time.”

The bill also includes a “reg flag” provision and revokes gun licenses for people who commit domestic violence.

The announcement comes after two fatal mass shootings renewed calls for gun control in the U.S.

A white supremacist shooter allegedly targeted Black shoppers at a Buffalo supermarket on May 14, killing 10.

Ten days later, an 18-year-old gunman entered a Texas elementary school and killed 21, including 19 children.

Trudeau previously banned more than 1,000 assault-style rifles, including AR-15s, in the spring of 2020 after a man impersonating a Royal Canadian Mounted Police officer went on a rampage in Nova Scotia, leaving 22 dead.

Canada is currently setting up a national buyback program which would likely further reduce the number of guns, according to the CBC.