With the steady rise of gun violence, Canada has put sanctions in place to stop the flow of guns as they have banned the sale, purchase, and transfer of handguns across the country.
In a press release, the office of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced:
“Going forward, people cannot buy, sell, or transfer handguns within Canada, and they cannot bring newly acquired handguns into the country.”
“Canadians have the right to feel safe in their homes, in their schools, and in their places of worship.”
“With handgun violence increasing across Canada, it is our duty to take urgent action to remove these deadly weapons from our communities.”
“Today, we’re keeping more guns out of our communities, and keeping our kids safe.”
Despite Canada having a low rate of mass shootings overall, gun violence, in general, has been on the rise, especially in the United States.
Canada has seen over 70% increase in the purchase of handguns since 2010.
The bill to stop handguns introduced in May, proposes revoking firearms licenses for people involved in domestic violence or criminal harassment cases, providing law enforcement with more tools to investigate firearms crimes, and additional measures to prevent gun smuggling and trafficking.
In 2020, 22 people were killed in a mass shooting in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia, the country’s deadliest mass shooting in recent years.
In 2020, 277 people were killed by a firearm in Canada, at a rate of .73 per 100,000 people, according to Canada’s national statistics office.
Although Canada deals with gun violence, there are far more mass shootings in the United States
