Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has taken the wraps off new federal gun control legislation.
The cabinet order doesn’t forbid owning any of the 1,500 ‘military-style’ weapons and their variants, but it does ban the trade on them.
Saying gun violence in Canada is increasing, Trudeau said they are closing the market for assault grade weapons in our country.
“We are banning 1,500 models and variants of these firearms, by way of regulations, Trudeau said Friday morning. These weapons were designed for one purpose only, to kill the largest amount of people possible in the shortest amount of time.”
Effective immediately, they can’t be used, sold or imported into the country.
There will be a two year amnesty period, where the government will legislate fair compensation.
Assault-style firearms designed for military use have no place in our communities. That’s why we banned 1,500 of them today. Get the details here: https://t.co/8EEsbW7qdf
— Justin Trudeau (@JustinTrudeau) May 1, 2020
An Angus Reid survey found that four in five Canadians support a complete ban on civilian possession of assault style weapons.
Two in three support a ban on handguns.
Two-thirds of people strongly support such a move, giving federal policy makers a clear mandate to go forward, according to the pollster.
It also says that endorsement for the change transcends political and regional divides, although a slight majority, 55 per cent, of current gun owners oppose it.
Angus Reid thinks there would still be significant push back against the government implementing new legislation because nearly half of Canadians say current gun control laws are either too strict or about right.
The Liberals promised tighter gun control laws during the election campaign and were pressed to take action following the murders of 22 people in Nova Scotia less than two weeks ago.
(GX94)
