The Canadian government is moving to ban the importation of restricted handguns, effective Aug. 19. Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino and Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Joly announced Friday that the federal government has decided to push ahead with an importation ban without the approval of Parliament, moving to make the policy change through regulatory restrictions.
this measure appears to be a temporary one, in preparation for Canada’s handgun ban which seems to have a provision that permanently solidifies a ban on handgun imports.
as far as i know only the Conservatives (and the unsuccessful People’s Party) are really opposed to this, and these measures are popular in Canada. the country is also in the middle of implementing a weapon buyback program, but that’s focused more on assault-style weapons than handguns.