Canada, Trudeau announces a law banning the purchase and sale of pistols: “The fewer weapons there are, the safer we are”

Justin Trudeau watches from the window what happens to his American neighbor and since he does not like what he sees, he takes preventive countermeasures. Thus, a few days after the massacre of children at the primary school in Uvalde, Texas, the Canadian premier announces a tightening of the law on firearms. It is a bill that provides for a “national freeze” of ownership of a weapon and the confiscation of the license for those involved in acts of domestic violence or harassment such as stalking. “From the day it goes into effect, it will no longer be possible to buy, sell, transfer or import weapons into Canada,” Trudeau told reporters. If approved, the measure should be applied starting in the autumn.

Trudeau said he sees no other reason than hunting and sport why one should own a gun. The squeeze on weapons announced by the premier, in addition to prohibiting the free purchase of pistols, also provides that the magazines for long guns are modified so that they cannot fire more than five rounds, as well as the prohibition of selling or transferring high-quality magazines. capacity; it is a way to limit the devastating power of the semi-automatic rifles often used in massacres. “There is no reason anyone in Canada should have guns in their daily life, other than hunting and sporting weapons,” said Trudeau.

The decision, undoubtedly prompted by the Uvalde tragedy, will however have to deal with the parliament, in which the liberals do not have a majority of seats. “It will no longer be possible – Trudeau explained to reporters during an ampa conference – to buy, sell, transfer or import guns anywhere in Canada. In other words, we are putting a limit on the gun market”.

Canada saw in April 2020 the latest massacre linked to the spread of firearms: 23 were the dead in Nova Scotia. The government in the following weeks banned some 1,500 types of firearms, including assault rifles such as the Ar-15 used by Salvador Ramos at the Uvalde school, but failed to stop a growing wave of threats and violence in which the gun was used casually. In addition, there is a constant flow of weapons from the United States, a neighboring country, which worries Canadian police on a daily basis. In the country, according to an estimate provided by the government itself, at least one million guns are in circulation today, many more than ten years ago. “Armed violence is a complex problem – added the prime minister – but, at the same time, simple: the fewer weapons there are in our communities, the safer we will all be”.