After witnessing a mass shooting in Nova Scotia last month, Canada has instituted a nationwide ban on military-style assault weapons. The new law bans the use, purchase, sale, transportation, and import of 1,500 models of assault weapons, including the infamous AR-15.
The process to obtain a firearm in Canada already involves tests, character references, and a background check, but Wendy Cukier, the president of the Coalition for Gun Control, says the majority of Canada’s mass shootings have occurred with legally purchased firearms nonetheless.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced the ban on Friday saying, “There is no use and no place for such weapons in Canada.”
The specifics of the ban are still being drafted, but there will be a two year amnesty period where owners of assault weapons can surrender their guns or sell them to an outside buyer with a permit. The government also plans to institute a buyback program similar to the one implemented in Australia. The policy will also include policies for flagging individuals who are potentially too dangerous to own firearms and regulation to prevent companies from circumventing the bans with redesign or renaming strategies.
