Effective immediately, Canadian’s prime minister took the massive step in banning all assault-style weapons on Friday less than two weeks after Canada’s deadliest mass shooting in history.
“You don’t need an AR-15 to bring down a deer,” Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said at a news conference in Ottawa. “So, effective immediately, it is no longer permitted to buy, sell, transport, import, or use military-grade assault weapons in this country.”
While the ban is effective immediately, disposal of the weapons will take place over a two year amnesty period. Trudeau confirmed that some form of compensation would be put in place. The weapons can also be exported and sold after a proper export license is obtained, according to CNN. Trudeau sent a strong message, saying that he had to act because “thoughts and prayers” for mass shooting victims would no longer suffice.
The order comes after 51-year-old Gabriel Wortman killed 22 people in Nova Scotia in a 12-hour murder spree. Police said Wortman had several semi-automatic handguns and at least two semi-automatic rifles, one of which was described by witnesses as a military-style assault weapon, local news reports. Authorities say that Wortman used a replica police car and uniform to impersonate a police officer as he killed strangers and people that he knew. He was fatally shot by officers. Of the 22 people that he killed, 13 of them were shot, and nine died in house fires, Royal Canadian Mounted Police confirmed on Tuesday. Police also believe that the gunman obtained at least some of his guns in the United States.
“These weapons were designed for one purpose, and one purpose only, to kill the largest number of people in the shortest amount of time. There is no use and no place for such weapons in Canada,” Trudeau said.
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