Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government introduced gun control legislation Monday that will freeze importing, buying, or selling handguns, among other measures.

“We are capping the number of handguns in this country,” Trudeau said at a press conference in Ottawa with families of shooting victims in attendance.

“We recognize that the vast majority of gun owners use them safely and in accordance with the law, but other than using firearms for sport shooting and hunting, there is no reason anyone in Canada should need guns in their everyday lives,” the prime minister added.

Trudeau continued, “We cannot let the gun debate become so polarized that nothing gets done. We cannot let that happen in our country. This is about freedom. People should be free to go to the supermarket, their school, or their place of worship without fear.”

Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino called the legislation the most significant step Canada has taken in a generation. He added that about 55,000 new handguns had been registered in Canada each year for the past decade.

“Countries that do a good job of controlling guns do a good job of controlling gun violence,” Mendicino said in an interview with The Associated Press.

The legislation would also allow for gun licenses to be revoked from people involved in acts of domestic violence or criminal harassment, such as stalking. The bill will create a new “red flag” law, which will allow courts to order people they deem a danger to themselves or others to surrender their firearms to the police.

Additionally, the government said the legislation would “safeguard” the process of reporting domestic violence by protecting victims’ identities.

The bill will permanently ban the sale and transfer of large-capacity magazines. Only rifle magazines that cannot hold more than five rounds will be allowed under the Criminal Code.

Having already expanded background checks, Canada now plans to ban 1,500 types of “military-style” firearms and offer a mandatory buyback program at the end of the year. Anyone who wants to keep a forbidden firearm will have to make it inoperable.

“The first AR-15s and other assault-style firearms will start to be bought back by the end of this year,” Mendicino said. “It’s going to be hard, but we’re going to get it done.”

Bill Blair, Canada’s minister of emergency preparedness, said guns are often smuggled in from the U.S. He noted that the U.S. and Canada are very different regarding gun rights.

“In Canada, gun ownership is a privilege, not a right,” Blair said. “This is a principle that differentiates ourselves from many other countries in the world, notably our colleagues and friends to the south.”

Pierre Poilievre, who is running to be the leader of Canada’s Conservative party, tweeted his disapproval of the new policy.

“The Liberal Trudeau/Charest record on guns is a total failure. Their useless registries & soft sentences for gun criminals make the problem worse. Respect law-abiding gun owners, put dangerous criminals behind bars & stop gun smugglers at the border,” he wrote.

Conservative Parliament member Raquel Dancho said the legislation falls short of effectively addressing gun violence.

“Today’s announcement fails to focus on the root cause of gun violence in our cities: illegal guns smuggled into Canada by criminal gangs,” she said. “The PM has had 7 years to fix this serious issue, yet he continues to chase headlines and bury his head in the sand.”

Conservative House leader John Brassard said the legislation unfairly targets legal gun owners.

“The real problem in this country is not the law-abiding firearms owners, who are heavily regulated, heavily-licensed … the real problem in this country has to do with gangs and criminals who are importing firearms, mostly from the United States, using illegal guns on our streets,” he said.

The legislation does include plans to increase criminal penalties for gun smuggling or trafficking and provide more tools to investigate firearms crimes and strengthen the border.

Trudeau claimed previous funding to border officials resulted in the doubling of smuggled guns confiscated at the U.S. border.

With the country’s Liberal party and the leftist New Democrats holding the majority of votes in Canada’s Parliament, the new regulations are expected to be passed this fall.