Justice Department definition to describe them as “semiautomatic firearms with a large magazine of ammunition that were designed and configured for rapid fire.” Each comes with specific regulations.Īssault-style firearms are not legally defined, but the federal government points to a U.S. To understand how Trudeau passed new gun control regulations, it’s necessary to understand the system governing gun ownership in Canada and how Canadian gun laws were passed over the past several decades.įirearms fall into three categories in Canada: non-restricted (most rifles and shotguns), restricted (handguns), and prohibited (specific handguns, sawed-off rifles and shotguns, automatic weapons). Gun control advocates welcomed the changes but wanted more: A firearm buyback program must be mandatory, they said, and Canada also should enact handgun restrictions and stricter border controls to prevent weapons from flowing in from the United States.īut Canada’s assault weapons ban could nevertheless provide a lesson about what it takes to get gun control measures enacted and serve as an example for Canada’s closest ally, the United States, which remains a global outlier with a staggering level of gun violence. In 2018, nearly 2.2 million people had licensed firearms in Canada, with Ontario and Quebec leading the list of provinces and territories.Īs with all gun-related policies, the response was swift and divided: Gun rights groups lambasted Ottawa for what it called its “ flawed and dangerous” decision and accused Trudeau of carrying out a “ gun grab” that would divide Canadians. On the contrary, according to the Small Arms Survey, a Geneva-based research project, there were 12.7 million legal and illicit firearms in civilian hands in Canada in 2017, or 34.7 firearms per 100 residents-the fifth highest rate in the world. There is no use and no place for such weapons in Canada.”Ĭanada’s assault weapons ban could nevertheless provide a lesson about what it takes to get gun control measures enactedĬanada is by no means an anti-gun country.
“These weapons were designed for one purpose and one purpose only: to kill the largest number of people in the shortest amount of time.
“Canadians deserve more than thoughts and prayers,” Trudeau said, echoing the fatalistic refrain of many U.S.
On May 1, Trudeau enacted new regulations to ban the use, sale, and import of more than 1,500 models of firearms and their components. MONTREAL-Less than two weeks after a gunman went on a rampage in Canada’s eastern province of Nova Scotia, killing 22 people in the deadliest mass shooting in the country’s modern history, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau made a long-awaited announcement: His government would ban “assault-style” firearms in Canada-a demand gun control advocates had spent decades pushing for.
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