Federal Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino is expected to introduce legislation on Monday that aims to at least deliver on key Liberal gun control promises in Canada.
This new bill called “An Act to amend certain Acts and other texts in consequence (firearms)” is scheduled to be tabled in the afternoon following the daily question period.
Minister Mendicino is expected to introduce the bill, then participate in a press conference at the Château Laurier with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and supporters of the approach, including mayors from across the country.
The government has remained tight-lipped about the precise content of the bill, but it could resurrect several measures announced before last year’s election call that failed to pass in time . Other measures promised during the election campaign could also be included.
Among other things, we are talking about a possible program of compulsory buy-back of assault weapons, a ban on high-capacity magazines and a strengthening of the fight against arms trafficking.
The Liberals promised to work with provinces, territories and municipalities wishing to ban handguns. The government could even go further and restrict the right to own weapons.
While a nationwide ban is unlikely, the government could quietly eliminate the right to own handguns by limiting the number of permits in circulation, tightening storage rules, or banning the manufacture and import of new ones. handguns.
The pressure group in favor of better control of firearms PolySeSouvient sharply criticized the federal government’s approach which delegated to the provinces and municipalities the responsibility of banning or not banning handguns. A position described as untenable given the circulation of weapons in the country which could pass from one region under restrictions to another without restrictions.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau defended this strategy at a press conference last week, saying that various opinions were shared across the country.
Speaking about the shooting that killed 21 people, including 19 children, at Robb Elementary School in Texas, Trudeau said Canadians were ‘remarkably united’ in their drive to reduce gun violence on fire in the country.
“This solidarity, it is with it that we will move forward in the coming weeks by taking new measures to control firearms,” he said at a press conference in Saskatchewan on Tuesday. last.
A comprehensive ban on assault weapons — the government’s flagship gun control promise — involves creating a mandatory buy-back program on guns made illegal by changes to the law in 2020.
The idea drew praise from gun control advocates, but Tory MPs and gun control opponents instead blamed the government for going after legitimate gun owners rather than preventing the entry of illegal weapons in the territory and to prevent them from falling into the wrong hands.
A takeover would concern some 1,500 models of weapons made illegal by a decree having ruled that these weapons have nothing to do with hunting or sport shooting.
However, some similar designs remain legal, and one gun control advocate lamented that gun makers have already found ways to circumvent the law by creating new designs.
PolySeSouvient has urged the government to change the weapons classification system to close loopholes in the law and include all current and future weapons that fall under the category of assault weapons.
Several women’s groups have also implored the government to drop the idea of giving potential victims the power to seek a court injunction to seize firearms from a suspected abuser or stalker.
The National Association of Women and the Law and several other groups wrote a letter to Minister Mendicino last week telling him that this section of the law would place the responsibility for gun control on the shoulders of potential victims.