Handgun freeze key feature of Canada’s new firearm bill

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government introduced legislation Monday that would put a national freeze on importing, buying or selling handguns.

The government said the bill would also allow for the removal of gun licenses from people involved in acts of domestic violence or criminal harassment, such as stalking.

The government also plans to fight gun smuggling and trafficking by increasing criminal penalties, providing more tools to investigate firearms crimes and strengthening border measures.

The bill would create a new “red flag” law allowing courts to require that people considered a danger to themselves or others surrender their firearms to police. The government said the measure would guard the safety of those applying through the process, often women in danger of domestic abuse, by protecting their identities.

The government said it will require rifle magazines to be permanently altered so they can never hold more than five rounds and will ban the sale and transfer of large-capacity magazines under the Criminal Code.

Trudeau has long had plans to enact tougher gun laws but the introduction of the new potential law comes after mass shootings in Uvalde, Texas, and Buffalo, N.Y., this month.