The House of Commons has passed Bill C-21 after third reading, a bill that Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino called “the most significant gun control legislation in Canada in a generation.”

In a statement on May 18 following passage of the bill, Mendicino said the legislation would “strengthen the national ban against AR-15-style firearms.”

“It’s going to put in place permanently a national freeze against handguns. And it’s going to introduce red flag and yellow flag protocols, which will reverse the alarming trend between domestic abuse and the presence of guns,” said Mendicino.

“This bill, Bill C-21 is going to save lives,” he declared.

The bill, which passed in a 207–113 vote, was supported by all parties except the Conservatives and is now headed to the Senate. Two Liberal MPs, Yukon MP Brendan Hanley and Northwest Territories MP Michael McLeod, voted against the bill.