Twelve days following the deadliest mass shooting in modern Canadian history, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced that the country would be placing a ban on all assault-style rifles.
The legislation was passed without Parliament’s approval and halts the manufacturing and purchasing of 1,500 makes/models of “military-style” assault weapons. Trudeau’s government considers military-style weapons to be “semi-automatic firearms with a large magazine of ammunition that were designed and configured for rapid fire.” The Prime Minister also noted that his cabinet, in conjunction with Parliament, would be proposing a buyback plan for current owners of military-style weapons. This move comes on the heels of the Nova Scotia shooting that left at least 22 people dead. The rampage was carried out by the use of two semiautomatic rifles and the shooter was found with two additional semiautomatic handguns on his person.