Canada bans assault-style weapons after shooting rampage

TORONTO (AP) Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says Canada is banning the use and trade of assault-style weapons immediately.

Trudeau cited numerous mass shootings in the country including the killing of 22 people in Nova Scotia April 18 and 19.

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

Mass shootings are relatively rare in Canada, but Trudeau said they are happening more often.

Trudeau noted he was nearby when in Montreal when a gunman killed 14 women and himself at Montreal’s Ecole Polytechnique college in 1989.