Canada handgun sales soar after Trudeau proposes freeze

There are more than a million handguns in Canada, which has a population of 38 million people

Jen Lavigne, co-owner of That Hunting Store in Ottawa, with a Ruger GP100 Magnum .357 pistol. AFP

Aman Sandhu checked shop after shop for a handgun in British Columbia, hoping to buy one before a Canadian government freeze on sales takes effect, but struggled to find one.

"I'm concerned that if I don't buy one now, I may never have the choice again," Mr Sandhu, a member of the Dawson Creek Sportsman's Club, told AFP.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's proposed freeze on pistol sales, which he announced after high-profile mass shootings in the US, has pushed some Canadians to rush to gun shops.

Mr Sandhu is keen to buy a pistol, but he is also wary of becoming mired in new rules that include heavy penalties for minor lapses.

"If I slip up, I could screw up the rest of my firearms ownership," he said, describing a handful of long guns in his collection.

There were queues out the door at several gun shops in British Columbia province within hours of the Liberal leader's declaration on Monday. Other shops across Canada said they sold out within days.

"Sales have been brisk," said Jen Lavigne, co-owner of That Hunting Store in a strip mall on the outskirts of the capital, Ottawa.

The shop sits between a barbershop, a Chinese buffet restaurant and a conservative politician's constituency office.

"We sold 100 handguns, or almost our entire stock, in the last three days since the prime minister announced the freeze," Ms Lavigne said.

A similar scene unfolded at DoubleTap Sports in Toronto. Owner Josko Kovic said the government announcement "created a panic and people are now rushing out to buy handguns."

"Almost all stores are sold out, including me," Mr Kovic said.

According to government estimates, there are more than 1 million handguns in Canada, which has a population of 38 million people. About 2,500 shops sell pistols.

At present, a person must have a restricted firearms licence to buy a handgun. Most also need a special permit to take them from any location to another, and they must be in secured cases.

Shooting ranges are the only places where they can be legally fired.

The regulations, unveiled after mass shootings killed 21 people at an elementary school in Texas and 10 at a supermarket in New York state, would prohibit the purchase, sale, transfer and import of handguns.

They are expected to come into force in autumn, along with a border crackdown on weapons smuggling from the US.

"We are capping the number of handguns in this country," Mr Trudeau said on Monday, because of "a level of gun violence in our communities that is unacceptable".

'Catch-22'

Almost two thirds of gun crimes in Canadian cities over the past decade involved handguns, government data shows.

At That Hunting Store, David, who was picking up a handgun for competition, lamented the new restrictions on top of rules that drag out purchases.

"It's ridiculous," he said. "It takes two months just to get a licence with all the background checks."

Gun shop owners decried the freeze, which must still be passed by Parliament.

"This measure is only going to hurt legal gun owners," Ms Lavigne said. "It's not going to reduce any of the crime because the bad guys don't follow the rules."

Darryl Tomlinson, owner of Canadian Gun Guys in Winnipeg, said he worried about the future of his shop and shooting range, as well as the social network of members.

"This handgun measure is going to take away livelihoods and break up communities," Mr Tomlinson said.

"It's a Catch-22. We're busy now but I fear we're going to be put out of business in the fall."