The federal government's national handgun freeze took effect on Friday, barring Canadians from buying, selling transferring or importing the firearms..People can still own and use their registered handguns and sell or transfer them to "exempted individuals or businesses.".“Canadians have the right to feel safe in their homes, in their schools, and in their places of worship," Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said during a press conference on Friday. ."With handgun violence increasing across Canada, it is our duty to take urgent action to remove these deadly weapons from our communities. Today, we’re keeping more guns out of our communities, and keeping our kids safe.”."Today is a historic day," said Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino (Eglinton—Lawrence, ON). ."Gun violence has been on the rise, and specifically handgun violence has been on the rise. It has now become the number one type of gun used in homicides.".Mendicino said the handgun freeze will tackle the "alarming role" of handguns in crime and gender-based violence.."We are using all tools at our disposal to fight gun violence and will not rest until all Canadians feel safe in their communities.”.Handguns were used in 59% of violent crime involving firearms between 2009 and 2020, and there are 70% more handguns in Canada today than in 2010. But those advocating against gun control have repeatedly stated gun crime comes from firearms being smuggled across the Canada-US border..The handgun freeze is part of a wider gun control package, Bill C-21, which is being put before Parliament. It would allow for people committing domestic violence or engaging in criminal harassment to automatically have their gun licenses removed, and increase maximum penalties for gun smuggling and trafficking from 10 years to 14..Tony Bernardo, executive director of the Canadian Shooting Sports Association, said today marks the beginning of the "gun confiscation era."."The Canadian government is coming along and stealing the lawful property of law-abiding Canadian citizens. These people have not committed any crimes, or else they wouldn't have firearms licenses," he said.."It's pure fantasy to believe this will reduce gun crime. No matter how much evidence you give anti-gun groups, they don't understand that guns aren't being taken away from the criminals who commit the crimes.".Alberta Justice Minister Tylor Shandro slammed the handgun ban..“The federal government’s national handgun freeze is now in effect. The ban means that Canadians interested in becoming new handgun owners are unable to do so. Sadly, with no new purchases being made, ranges, sport shooting clubs and firearms-related businesses will slowly be forced to shut down, compromising livelihoods and recreational opportunities for tens of thousands of Canadians," said Shandro in a statement..“This freeze led to a massive surge in handgun purchases from law-abiding firearms owners as they sought to make legal purchases for the last time. Ironically, there are now more legally owned handguns than ever before in Canadian history.".“The federal government will pretend that this is about public safety, deliberately conflating legal handgun ownership with the violence that we see in many urban centres across Canada. In reality, the handguns used to perpetrate criminal acts in our urban centres are typically illegally obtained and are smuggled across the U.S. border by weapons traffickers.".“The federal government’s real goal is to scapegoat handgun owners and use wedge politics to appeal to a narrow base of voters who wish to see legal firearm ownership in this country eliminated entirely.".“Alberta’s government will always stand with law-abiding firearms owners as we strive to keep our communities safe, put criminals behind bars and protect Albertans’ property rights.”
