Ottawa 6 Aug : Canadian authorities have announced a temporary ban on importation of handguns with restrictions. Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Joly and Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino said in a joint press release that this would aid in bringing the full impact of the national handgun ban into effect earlier, Xinhua news agency reported.
The Canadian government introduced Bill C-21 in May 2022 which proposes a range of changes to the Firearms Act to tackle gun violence.The proposed regulatory changes, which are expected to take effect in the autumn of 2022 will include a ban across the country on the purchase, importation and sale of handguns.
The temporary ban will mean that both individuals and companies will no longer be able import handguns into Canada with the exception of a few exceptions similar to the provisions in Bill C-21.The restrictions will go into effect on August.19 and will remain in effect until the nationwide freeze goes into force according to the news release.
Handguns were the most dangerous weapon used in the vast majority of violent crimes involving firearms in Canada between 2009 until 2020.The amount of firearms that are registered in the country grew by 71 % between 2010 and 2020 and reached around 1.1 million.
Canadian police forces have seized more than twice the amount of firearms in the border in 2021 as in comparison to the year 2020.This is also the largest quantity of firearms confiscated in the past few years, according to the announcement.
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