Aman Sandhu went from store to store in search of a handgun in British Columbia hoping to acquire a pistol before a Liberal bill including a sales freeze is passed and takes effect.
” I’m worried. If I don’t buy one now, the opportunity may never come again,” Sandhu told Agence France-Presse (AFP).
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau recently announced a proposed “national handgun ownership freeze” after recent killings in the neighboring United States, which prompted Canadians to flock to gun stores. weapons. The measure must still be voted on by Parliament, where Mr. Trudeau’s Liberal Party is in the minority.
Although Mr Sandhu wants to buy a pistol, he fears at the same time becoming subject to new restrictions, which would include heavy penalties for even minor violations.
“If I screw up, the rest of my guns could be in danger,” he said.
In British Columbia, several gun stores saw lines lengthen at their doors hours after the Prime Minister’s statement on Monday. Other businesses across Canada said they sold out their entire inventory within days.
“Sales were quick,” says Jen Lavigne, co-owner of the Hunting Store, located in a mall near Ottawa.
“We’ve sold 100 handguns, or almost our entire stock, in the last three days since the prime minister announced the freeze,” she said, pointing to near-empty shelves.
Panic
Same scene at DoubleTap Sports in Toronto. Owner Josko Kovic said the government’s announcement “created panic, and people are now rushing to buy handguns.”
“Almost every store is out of stock, including mine,” he says.
According to government estimates, there are over one million handguns in Canada, for a population of 38 million people. Some 2,500 stores sell it in the country.
Currently, a person must have a restricted firearms license to purchase a handgun. Most people also need a special permit to transport them from one place to another, and they must be placed in secure boxes.
Shooting ranges are among the only places where they can be legally operated.
The bill, unveiled after shootings that killed 21 people at a Texas elementary school and 10 at a New York state supermarket, would prohibit the purchase, sale, transfer and import of firearms. fist.
It could come into force in the fall, alongside a border crackdown on arms smuggling from the United States.
“Gun violence is a complex issue,” Trudeau said. “But at the end of the day, the math is really quite simple: the fewer guns there are in our communities, the safer everyone will be. »
Bankruptcy ?
According to government data, nearly two-thirds of gun crimes in Canadian cities over the past decade involved handguns.
At the Hunting Store, a man buying a new handgun, who introduces himself as David, bemoans the new restrictions on top of what he considers to be onerous rules.
“It’s ridiculous,” he blurted out. It takes two months just to get a license with all the background checks. »
The gunsmiths interviewed by AFP unanimously criticized the gel wanted by Justin Trudeau.
“This measure will only hurt legal gun owners,” said Ms. Lavigne, adding that “it will not reduce crime, because criminals do not play by the rules.”
Darryl Tomlinson, owner of Canadian Gun Guys in Winnipeg, is worried about the future of his store and shooting range.
“This handgun measure will take away wages and break up communities,” he said.
“We have demand now, he adds, but I fear that we will be bankrupt in the fall. »