Canada’s new rules regarding handguns go into effect on Friday, putting into place restrictions on handguns inside of the country and expanding on previous attempts to prevent imports.
“We have frozen the market for handguns in this country,” Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said at a press conference in Surrey, British Columbia.
“As we see gun violence continue to rise … we have an obligation to take action,” Trudeau noted. “Today our national handgun freeze is coming into force.”
“Our government is taking Canada’s most significant action on gun violence in a generation. We made a commitment to Canadians that we would act — and we are. The national freeze will tackle the alarming role of handguns in crime, gender-based violence, and more,” Minister of Public Safety Marco Mendicino said in a statement.
The new rules prevent the purchase, sale, or transfer of handguns within the nation. It was announced earlier this year along with proposed measures that would put forward the strictest gun control actions in Canada in four decades. The legislation is still being considered in Parliament. No newly obtained handguns are allowed to be brought into Canada from another country as well.
“Fewer guns mean safer communities,” the prime minister’s website noted. “Handguns are the weapon of choice in most firearm-related crimes, which is why limiting the number of handguns is a critical part of our plan to protect Canadians from gun violence.”
“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,” Trudeau said in a statement.
In the past, Trudeau has weighed in on America’s politics, whether it comes to Second Amendment Rights or the right to life.
“Unfortunately, the reality is in our country [gun violence] is getting worse and has been getting worse over the past years,” Trudeau said in May. “We need only look south of the border to know that if we do not take action, firmly and rapidly, it gets worse and worse and more difficult to counter.”
Trudeau has said that “women’s right to choose” is supported in Canada, adding that Canada will “help out in the United States if [they] need to.” He also called it “horrific” when the Supreme Court ruled to effectively overturn Roe v. Wade in its Dobbs vs. Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision this summer.