Canadian PM Justin Trudeau on Monday announced a proposed freeze on ownership of handguns in the country, following a United States mass shooting incident that took place in Texas last week. The freeze on handguns would effectively ban their importation and sale, reported news agency AFP. Trudeau had earlier said his "heart breaks" for those impacted by the "horrific" shooting at an elementary school in Texas that killed 21 people.
Taking to Twitter, Trudeau announced that his government has introduced legislation to further strengthen gun control in Canada. "Through this legislation, we’ll move forward with a national freeze on handgun ownership. In other words, it will no longer be possible to buy, sell, transfer, or import handguns anywhere in Canada once this Bill becomes law," he wrote.
Besides, criminal penalties to combat gun smuggling and trafficking will also be increased in Canada. Authorities will be provided with more tools to investigate firearms crimes, and criminalize the modification of magazines to prevent them from holding more than the legal limit of ammunition, Trudeau said.
One Canadian killed by gun violence is one too many. That’s why we’ve banned 1,500 types of military-style assault firearms
"In addition, we’ll make sure that people involved in acts of domestic violence or criminal harassment have their firearms licenses taken away. And we’ll make sure that those who are considered a danger to themselves or others have to surrender their firearms to authorities," Trudeau tweeted.
On May 24, an 18-year-old gunman killed 19 children and two adults as he went from classroom to classroom at Robb Elementary School in the town of Uvalde, a heavily Latino town about 135 kilometers west of San Antonio. The shooter was later killed by law enforcement.
"The students, the parents, the teachers, the entire community have had their lives changed forever by this unimaginable event," Trudeau had told reporters after the horrific incident.
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