Trudeau says the gun control bill tabled today includes a national freeze on the sale, importation and transfer of handguns in Canada, making this the government's most ambitious attempt yet to restrict access to firearms in this country.
Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino presented the bill, C-21, in the House of Commons Monday.
"The bill we just tabled represents a milestone amidst a long and difficult battle which takes place on our streets every single day," Mendicino said at the news conference. "It's a battle which has claimed too many lives, leaving empty chairs at the dinner table, and empty desks in our classrooms."
The legislation revives some federal measures that didn't pass before last year's general election and implements some new proposals made during the campaign.
They include taking away firearms licences from those involved in domestic violence or criminal harassment, increasing criminal penalties for smuggling and trafficking of firearms, and a "red flag" law which would require people deemed a threat to themselves or others to turn in their firearms to law enforcement.
The government previously proposed working with provinces and territories to put restrictions on handguns. Trudeau said his government abandoned that idea after consultations.
"In our discussions with law enforcement, advocates and experts, it became apparent that we needed a different solution," he said.
"So we decided to take a new route, something that would tackle this issue at a national level."
It also would increase the maximum penalty for offences under the law, such as illegally owning, acquiring or manufacturing a firearm, from 10 years imprisonment to 14.
"We recognize that the vast majority of gun owners use them safely, and in accordance with the law," Trudeau said.
"But other than using firearms for sport shooting and for hunting, there is no reason anyone in Canada should need guns in their everyday lives."
Government promises to buy back assault weapons
Mendicino confirmed that the government would be proceeding with a mandatory buyback program for the over 1,500 assault-style weapons the government banned two years ago — including the AR-15. He said the details will have to wait for consultations with industry on compensation and likely won't be available until this summer.
He said that the first weapons would be bought back before the end of this year.
Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino presented the bill in the House of Commons Monday. (Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press)
"It's going to be hard but we are going to get it done," Mendicino said.
He added that the government is aiming to ban an even larger number of assault-style weapons through an amendment to the bill.
Prior to the presentation of the bill, the House unanimously voted in favour of a motion expressing its horror at the Uvalde shooting and condolences to the family, friends and communities of the victims.
The Coalition for Gun Control, a group founded in the wake of the 1989 École Polytechnique massacre, welcomed the bill.
"This proposed law will strengthen screening processes for gun licences with a particular focus on risk factors associated with domestic violence, but also suicide and hate crimes," Wendy Cukier, the group's president and a professor at Toronto Metropolitan University, said in a media statement.
"The game-changer is the proposed national ban on the sale and importation of handguns which will stem the flow of these guns. Legal handguns are a significant source of handguns used in crime and are the guns most often used in mass shootings. Canadians want them banned."
Montreal Mayor Valérie Plante also praised the proposed measures but added she wants to see a full ban on handguns eventually.
"National tools to fight armed and domestic violence are a win for Montreal and cities across the country," she said in a media statement. "We hope that the step taken today by the Canadian government leads us towards the complete ban of handguns on our territory and out of the reach of young people."
Tracy Wilson, vice-president of public relations for the Canadian Coalition for Firearms Rights, criticized the bill and the Trudeau government's approach to the issue, saying the proposed law puts too much emphasis on regulating legal firearms and not enough on criminals and unlicensed weapons.
"Once again, it's targeting the entirely wrong demographic," she said.
"Once again, [Trudeau's] choosing to go down the path of targeting legal, licensed, RCMP-vetted gun owners, instead of focusing on unlicensed criminals and their illicit firearms."
No mention the well known fact that most of the illegal guns distributed in Canada are coming through the Indian reserves. Maybe that would be a good place to start to curb gun violence.
