It is not immediately clear how many major Canadian cities will follow and impose bans.
Shortly after Mr. Trudeau spoke, Kennedy Stewart, the mayor of Vancouver, wrote on Twitter that he would propose a measure banning handguns once federal legislation is approved. And Montreal mayor Valérie Plante has called for a national handgun ban after a 15-year-old girl was killed in a drive-by shootoutin the city earlier this month.
But after long calling for a ban on municipal handguns, John Tory, the mayor of Toronto, backed down last year and urged the federal government to focus on preventing guns from entering states. -United. On Tuesday, he said in a statement that although Toronto City Council has backed a nationwide ban, it will await details on how the new federal law could strengthen local bans “and what its impact would be on gun violence.” .
The conservative provincial governments of Alberta and Ontario have said they oppose municipal limits on handguns, although it’s unclear whether they will block them.
The bill introduced on Tuesday did not satisfy people on both sides of the debate. Groups calling for gun control have been disappointed, for example, that the buyback program will not be mandatory, as was the case in New Zealand.
But Bill Blair, Minister of Public Safety and former Toronto police chief, said the program, which was not specifically included in the law, will not allow anyone who does not sell their guns to the government to transfer them to anyone, even after their death, or use them.
“We are not targeting law-abiding citizens who have guns to go hunting or shooting sports,” Trudeau said. “The measures we are proposing are concrete and practical”,
Erin O’Toole, Leader of the Conservative Opposition, condemned any new gun restrictions.
“Mr. Trudeau is fooling people by trying to suggest that buying things back from hunters and other law-abiding Canadians will somehow solve the problem of the shooting and criminal gang activity in big cities, ”O’Toole told reporters.
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