Feds announce national handgun freeze to take effect immediately

The Trudeau government announced a national handgun freeze on Friday that will go into effect right away.

The freeze means it will be illegal to buy, sell, transfer, import, or export handguns anywhere in Canada. The move is part of the Liberals’ Bill C-21 legislation which is still being debated in the House of Commons.

“When people are being killed, when people are being hurt, responsible leadership requires us to act,” said Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, officially announcing the freeze in Vancouver on Friday morning.

Trudeau was joined by Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino who’s office says the freeze is being done through regulations and the governor general signed off on them on Thursday. The government says applications submitted on or before Oct. 21 will continue to be processed.

“Since 2011, firearms related homicides have gone up nearly 40 per cent and handguns are the most commonly used weapons,” Trudeau says.

The government had previously banned the import of handguns as a first step towards a national freeze. In May, the Liberal government announced a plan to implement the freeze to help quell firearm-related violence and tabled regulatory amendments in both the House of Commons and the Senate.

The measure is part of a broader firearms-control package that would allow for the automatic removal of gun licences from people committing domestic violence or engaged in criminal harassment, such as stalking, as well as increase maximum penalties for gun smuggling and trafficking to 14 years from 10.

Two years ago the Trudeau government banned more than 1,500 types of assault-style firearms.

Conservatives and gun groups have criticized the measures saying the moves don’t deal with the real issue of illegal guns being used in crimes and only punish law-abiding gun owners. Some groups are asking for an exemption to the freeze that would include a wider range of sport shooters

With files from Cormac Mac Sweeney and The Canadian Press