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May 1, 2020 4:30 PM -

Trudeau announces ban on 1,500 types of 'military-style' guns

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Semi-automatic rifles fill a wall at a gun shop in Lynnwood, Wash. 2 Oct,2018. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP-Elaine Thompson

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says the federal government is banning a range of assault-style guns, with an order that takes effect immediately.

He says the order has a two-year amnesty period for current owners, and there will be a compensation program.

In an announcement this morning, he cites numerous mass shootings, from Ecole Polytechnique in 1989 to the killings in Nova Scotia last week, as the reasons for the move.

Stricter controls on firearms were a promise in the Liberals' election campaign platform last fall.

Trudeau has said the government was on the verge of bringing in stricter gun-control legislation in March, but froze plans when the COVID-19 pandemic hit.

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