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Gun control advocates and the mayors of several large Canadian cities are welcoming the federal government’s proposed freeze on the sale and transfer of handguns, a central feature of new firearm legislation that is also angering some gun owners.


The freeze was an unexpected addition to the new Bill C-21, which also seeks to take away guns and firearm licences from domestic abusers and crack down on gun smuggling and trafficking.

“These are substantial, effective, popular and historical measures that will take Canada in the right direction,” Nathalie Provost, a survivor of the 1989 mass shooting at Polytechnique, said in a statement shared by prominent advocacy group PolySeSouvient.

The legislation tabled in Parliament on Monday replaces a previous version of Bill C-21 that expired when last year’s election was called, and did not include the nationwide freeze on selling, buying, importing and transferring handguns.

The Liberals had previously promised to support provinces and territories that wanted to pursue a full ban, which gun control advocates argued would create a patchwork of ineffective rules across the country.

Under the new legislation, existing handgun owners would be allowed to keep their firearms but would only be allowed to sell or transfer to businesses and exempt individuals, chiefly valuable goods carriers and sport shooters.

The bill would not ban handguns, but rather seek to cap the number already in Canada.