Canada’s strict gun laws include a ban on assault-style firearms and a national freeze on the sale, purchase and transfer of handguns.
The Canadian government has banned more than 2,500 makes and models of assault-style firearms in recent years.
Former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced an immediate ban of more than 1,500 models on May 1, 2020, two weeks after a gunman killed 22 people in Nova Scotia. The ban included two weapons used by that gunman as well as the AR-15 and other weapons that have been used in a number of mass shootings in the United States. “Canadians need more than thoughts and prayers,” he said at the time.
More than 12,000 guns were collected and destroyed as part of a compensation program for businesses that ran between November 2024 and April 2025. A similar program for individuals opened last month to compensate gun owners who voluntarily turn in banned weapons by March 31.
Those who do not participate must dispose of or permanently deactivate their prohibited guns before an amnesty period ends Oct. 30.
The national freeze on the sale and purchase of handguns took effect in October 2022. It does not apply to those who already were authorized to carry handguns and those involved in shooting sports covered by the International Olympic Committee or International Paralympic Committee.
Such changes are part of what government officials describe as a comprehensive approach to combatting gun violence. Other recent efforts include implementing lifetime background checks and investing in law enforcement and border operations.
The government also has helped fund community projects that raise awareness of “Red Flag” laws that allow anyone to apply to courts to temporarily prevent access to firearms for those who pose a danger to themselves or others.
FILE - Weapons seized during a multi-jurisdictional investigation by the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) and U.S. Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) are displayed during a news conference at OPP Headquarters in Orillia, Ontario, Canada, on Thursday, Feb. 22, 2024. (Arlyn McAdorey/The Canadian Press via AP, FILE)
NEW YORK (AP) — A second suspect in the stray-bullet killing of a 7-month-old baby on a Brooklyn street was arrested Friday, police said, two days after a shooting the police commissioner called “a tragedy that truly shocks the conscience.”
Matthew Rodriguez, 18, was apprehended in Pennsylvania by New York Police Department detectives working with U.S. Marshals, the NYPD said.
The suspected shooter, 21-year-old Amuri Greene, was arrested shortly after the drive-by gunfire that killed Kaori Patterson-Moore. Greene pleaded not guilty to murder and other charges at an arraignment Friday night.
Kaori was in her stroller when a two men sped down a street on a moped Wednesday afternoon. Greene, riding on the back of the vehicle, fired into a group of people on a street corner, according to a court complaint.
Kaori's mother, Lianna Charles-Moore, told the New York Post that after hearing what she initially believed were fireworks, she was comforting her startled 2-year-old son — who had been grazed by a bullet — when she looked to her left and saw her baby daughter bleeding. The infant had been shot in the head.
“My daughter was innocent. She didn’t deserve that," Charles-Moore told the newspaper. She said her daughter was just about starting to crawl and had recently begun saying “Mama.”
Greene told police he was aiming for another person in the crowd, according to the court complaint.
Police said the moped sped and crashed into a car two blocks away, hurling both men off the vehicle. Greene was injured and soon was hospitalized in police custody, but the moped driver fled.
Authorities haven't yet released court papers that detail Rodriguez's alleged role. But they haven't indicated they were looking for anyone other than the gunman — alleged to have been Greene — and the moped driver.
Greene was being held without bail after his arraignment. A voice message seeking comment was left with his attorney.
Police didn't immediately have information on how the men are connected or where Rodriguez lives; no working telephone number for him could immediately be found. Police charges against him were pending.
Mayor Zohran Mamdani and Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch expressed heartbreak and outrage over Kaori's death.
“This is a terrible day in our city, a tragedy that truly shocks the conscience,” Tisch said at a news briefing Wednesday.
This image taken from video provided by the New York Police Department shows New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani, flanked by Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch, left, and Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny, speaking during a news conference, Wednesday, April 1, 2026, in New York. (NYPD via AP)
