While Canada's Parliament continues to debate gun-control legislation introduced in May after the Uvalde and Buffalo shootings in the U.S., Canadian Prime Minister imposed an immediate freeze on handgun sales and importation, NPR reports. "When people are being killed, when people are being hurt, responsible leadership requires us to act," Trudeau said at a news conference on Friday, announcing the new measure. "Recently again, we have seen too many examples of horrific tragedies involving firearms." Besides placing a freeze on the sale, purchase and transfer of handguns, Trudeau's order forbids bringing newly acquired handguns into Canada.
The bill introduced in May would be one of the strongest pieces of gun control legislation in decades. It is still being heavily debated by legislators. Gun reform groups applauded the prime minister's preemptive move. "Reducing the proliferation of handguns is one important example of the evidence-based measures Canada needs to reduce gun violence and save lives," Canadian Doctors for Protection from Guns tweeted in response to the news. But the Canadian Coalition for Firearm Rights argued that stricter legislation on guns has no effect on decreasing gun violence. After one of Canada's deadliest shootings in history two years ago, Trudeau banned 1,500 models of assault-style firearms and variants of AR-15 rifles. At Friday's news conference, Trudeau took aim at handguns. "Our goal, over time, is to see the amount of handguns, in our communities, reduced," he said.