 We're introducing legislation to implement a national freeze on handgun ownership. What this means is that it will no longer be possible to buy, sell, transfer, or import handguns anywhere in Canada. In other words, we're capping the market for handguns. As a further part of this new legislation, we're also fighting gun smuggling and trafficking by increasing maximum criminal penalties and providing more tools for law enforcement to investigate firearm crimes and will require the permanent alteration of long gun magazines so they can never hold more than five rounds. These are actions that doctors, experts, and chiefs of police have been calling for for years and we're acting on their advice. I also want to thank the advocates, many of whom are here today for your tireless efforts. I know that for too many of you, Greece, grief, and loss are at the root of the work that you do. I want to recognize that and on behalf of all Canadians, I want to thank you for your strength. Today, we're moving forward with a law project that will ensure that it will no longer be possible to buy, sell, transfer, or import handguns anywhere in Canada. As part of this new law project, we're also fighting illegal import and gun trafficking by increasing maximum criminal penalties and providing more tools to police services to investigate the crimes linked to firearms. Furthermore, we're going to require permanent alteration of long gun magazines so they can never hold more than five rounds. To fight violence by firearms, we have to tackle several fronts. First, with our measures, we have to flatten and reduce the number of guns in circulation in the country. But we also have to continue to do prevention with young people who may have contacts with criminalized media. We have to continue our efforts to tackle illegal import to our borders. We've already invested to strengthen the RCMP and CBSA's capacity to intercept guns coming across our borders. We know our efforts are working because last year our agencies intercepted nearly double the number of firearms than the year before. We'll continue doing more to support law enforcement as they tackle the illegal gun market. We've thought about this long and hard. We've had many discussions within our caucus with all of our MPs who represent the diversity of our country, MPs from rural communities, MPs from urban communities. The members of our team here today can tell you that this is not an easy thing to do, but we all agree that it is the responsible thing to do. We recognize that the vast majority of gun owners use them safely and in accordance with the law. But other than using firearms for sports shooting and hunting, there is no reason anyone in Canada should need guns in their everyday lives. And Canadians certainly don't need assault-style weapons that were designed to kill the largest number of people in the shortest amount of time. Canadians are united in wanting more done to keep communities safe and prevent suicides and gender-based violence. And that's exactly why we're here today. Because the consequences are real. Today we're joined by families and friends of victims of gun violence, including the mass shootings at Politechnik and on the Danforth and at the Quebec City Mosque. Losing a child to gun violence, or a brother, or a sister, or a spouse, or a parent, or a friend. This should never happen. During the last few years, I participated in too many vigils. I met too many victims. I think of the families of victims of gun violence. I think of my conversation with the family of the gun legend Heidi Stevenson in Porta Pic. There are many other families of this community so affected by this tragedy and its murders. Politicians, we're always there to be good, to compensate, to console. And it's important to do it. But it's also our moral duty to act. I still remember where I was when I learned the news of the massacres at the Politechnik school. I was 17 years old. I was in a few corners of the street, in the suburbs. We come in a moment like this, to seize the depth and the impact of what we're living as a community, as a country, to learn of such horrors can happen. It's dramas that embrace our society completely. It marks generations. Well, Canadians all agree that we need less gun violence. We cannot let the guns debate become so polarized that nothing gets done. We cannot let that happen in our country. And this is about freedom. People should be free to go to the supermarket, their school, or their place of worship, without fear. People should be free to go to the park or to a birthday party without worrying about what might happen from a stray bullet. Gun violence is a complex problem, but at the end of the day, the math is really quite simple. The fewer the guns in our communities, the safer everyone will be.