The federal government announced on Friday the entry into force of its freeze on the sale, purchase and transfer of handguns across the country.
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“We are freezing the market to reduce the number of handguns in the country. This is one of the strongest measures taken to increase gun control in a generation,” said Justin Trudeau during a press briefing in Surrey, British Columbia.
The policy’s goal is to “see a reduction in the circulation of these firearms”, even though most weapons used in crimes are obtained on the black market.
The freeze announced today is the result of regulatory changes pending the adoption of Bill C-21, which continues to be debated in Parliament.
“Last year, we intercepted twice the number of illegal weapons at the border compared to the previous year, and we are not stopping this work,” continued the Prime Minister.
Ottawa had announced its project last June, just before the summer holidays and in an emergency, in a context where events of armed violence were making headlines almost daily in Quebec.
Anticipating the market freeze, gun enthusiasts flocked to traders, creating a small shortage.
The number of handguns in the country has increased by 70% since 2010. Since 2011, homicides involving a firearm have increased by almost 40%, and handguns were the most commonly used weapons.
The Minister of Justice, David Lametti, had preceded the Prime Minister, peddling the announcement in Montreal North earlier in the day, Friday.
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“We should have acted sooner”
The Bloc Québécois welcomes the initiative, but believes “that we should have intervened much earlier”.
“Freezing alone will not fix everything. We continue to believe that in addition to tightening the framework for legal weapons, we need an effective strategy to fight the trafficking of illegal weapons. Freezing legal sales only solves part of the vast problem of firearms, and the government must counter illegal trafficking at the borders, which are real sieves,” said Kristina Michaud, Bloc Quebecois spokesperson for public security. .
Mr Trudeau recalled that his government banned the trade in 1,500 assault-style weapons following the Portapique killings, in which a man killed more than 20 people.