Firearm-related homicides have increased by 37 per cent over the past 11 years, and handguns have been the most common weapon used in such crimes, according to a Statistics Canada report, but it warns there are significant gaps in information gathering. If the police do not provide information about the accused`s relationship to the victim (the link is unknown), this information is presumed and the term perpetrator is used. Among victims of firearm-related violent crime, 18% of relationships in 2020 were attributed. Among victims of non-firearm-related violent crime, the attribution rate was lower (10%). This has a minor impact on the resulting information on links to gun crime. It should be noted that attribution is more common in non-family relationships. It should be noted that there is no impact on the estimation of firearms related to family violence. Mr. Demkiw told the committee that in addition to addressing the root causes of crime in the community, money and effort should be spent to stem the flow of illegal guns into Canada. Overall, most victims of violent crime were not injured, and very few violent crime injuries were caused by firearms. In 2020, nearly 122,000 victims of violent crime were injured as a result of their victimization; Of these, nearly 2,000 (1.6%) had firearm-related injuries. Most serious weapon present: the heaviest weapon present during the commission of a violent crime and deemed relevant by police, whether or not the weapon was used and whether or not a victim was involved.
This variable includes incidents where a firearm was used against a victim who caused injury, was used against a victim without causing injury (e.g., as a threat), or was present during the crime, but was not used in any way. Homicide, other fatal offences and attempted murder (combined) accounted for more than one-quarter (27%) of firearm-related crimes committed as confirmed or suspected in support of organized crime or gang activity. Robbery (22%) and intentional discharge of a firearm (21%) were the second most common offences. For information on gang-related homicides, see Firearm-related homicides. Costly federal buyback program “certainly won`t solve the crime problem we face in Toronto” For some CMAs, high rates of firearm-related violent crime mirrored overall high rates of violent crime in communities (Figure 1). However, this has not always been the case. For example, it should be noted that Toronto had a relatively low rate of firearm-related violent crime, but firearm-related crime accounted for a relatively high proportion of all violent crime. A significant increase in firearm-related violent crime rates was observed in 2020 in rural southern British Columbia (+34%), northern Ontario (+32%), rural Alberta (+32% in the north and +31% in the south), the Northwest Territories (+23%) and Nova Scotia (+22%) (Table 1). The rate in urban areas of Prince Edward Island increased by 294%, from 3 to 12 victims.
In Nova Scotia, part of the increase in firearm-related violent crime can be attributed to the multi-victim incident in April 2020, as well as a 30% increase in the rate of firearm-related violent crime in Halifax (Table 3). Illegally imported firearms may well have been legally manufactured and exported; legally imported firearms may have been illegally exported; Firearms acquired illegally in one place can be legally sold in another, and so on. It can be very difficult to control the firearms trade at the national level without addressing the issue of international arms trafficking. And as Goldring (1997: 1) has argued, it will be equally difficult to control the illicit international firearms market without monitoring and controlling domestic access to firearms. Toronto Deputy Police Chief Myron Demkiw told the House of Commons Public Safety Committee on Tuesday that of the firearms used by investigators last year, 86 per cent were smuggled into Canada from the U.S. — a trend that has been rising since 2019. In 2020, 2.8% of victims of violent crime were victims of a firearm-related incident, that is, an incident where a firearm was present and police deemed it relevant. Although firearms are present in a minority of criminal incidents, the rate of firearm-related violent crime has increased in recent years. Research on gun abuse has tended to focus on the number of legally available firearms.
Similarly, firearms regulatory systems control the legitimate or approved firearms market. However, in order to prevent firearms from falling into the wrong hands and to limit the irresponsible use of firearms, the illicit market in firearms must be restricted. Indeed, priority should be given to simultaneous strategies to control and regulate the legitimate firearms market and to deter illicit trafficking; If this does not happen, it is possible that the illicit market will become more lucrative and create new opportunities for criminals. Axon and Moyer (1994: xiii) emphasized the importance of controlling the proliferation of illicit firearms and preventing criminals from obtaining them. But using such episodes to sell Canadian gun control policies overlooks the fact that the biggest and most persistent problem of gun violence in Canada is not mass shootings. This is the daily count of individual violent crimes involving firearms, particularly handguns. And the Liberals have done little to curb the growing number of these less worthy crimes. It should be noted that among male and female victims of firearm-related violent crime, the proportion of IPV was higher in 2020 than in previous years.