StatsCan misleads the public. Statistics Canada released another report on firearms and violent crime, and, as usual, StatsCan exaggerates the dangers of firearms. Make no mistake, firearms can be (and are) misused to commit violent crimes, but exaggerating their dangerousness minimizes real problems, such as violent crime, lenient sentencing, and repeat offenders, which just encourage politicians to pass more irrational restrictions on guns.
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- “If you don’t read the newspaper, you’re uninformed. If you read the newspaper, you’re mis-informed.” Mark Twain
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Here are a few facts that I found hiding in StatsCan’s pile of hyperbole.
Firearms are rarely involved in violent crime
Firearms account for 2.6% of all violent crime reported by police in 2024.
Even this small number is exaggerated because a firearm need not be used for it to be counted as a “firearms related violent crime.” If a crime is committed where a firearm can be found in the home, garage, or yard, then the crime can be called “firearm related.” Unsurprisingly, a firearm is used to injure a victim in only one-quarter of “firearm related” violent crime, according to an earlier Special Request.
Sex and firearm violent crime
In 2024, men and boys were twice as likely (66%) to be victims of firearm-related violent crime than women as well as being more likely (89%) to be accused of a firearm-related violent crime.
StatsCan exaggerates the role of firearms in family violence
StatsCan asserts that “the average rate (of firearms-related intimate partner violence) from 2020 to 2024 was 31% higher than the rate from 2015 to 2019.” Sounds shocking, but StatsCan also admits that a firearm was present in less than one percent (0.9%) of police reported intimate partner violence (IPV) even after a 31% increase. Despite the supposed danger of firearms, fewer than half (43%) of victims were injured in a firearm-related IPV. It seems irrational to focus on less than one percent of IPVs. Why overlook the other 99%? The problem is intimate partner violence, not firearms.
Normal people do not commit homicide
Whether by shooting, stabbing or otherwise, killers are typically aberrant and often deranged. Unsurprisingly, 60% of perpetrators of firearms-related homicide have a recent criminal record, and 40% of firearms homicides involved organized crime or gangs.
A variety of weapons can be used to commit murder. One-third (36%) of the homicides committed in 2024 involved firearms (287 out of 797), while 31% (237) homicides involved knives or another type of sharp object. The rest of the homicides (33%) demonstrate just how opportunistic murderers can be. Such as attacking crowds with a car or van.
Source of firearms used in homicide
Based on a very small sample of firearms used in homicide, StatsCan asserts that “the majority of firearms sent for tracing come from Canada,” but that claim is misleading; it is based on just 34 out of 287 firearm homicides.
“The firearm used to cause death was recovered in 41% of firearm homicides. Of the recovered firearms, 77 (70%) were sent for tracing. It was possible to trace the origins of nearly half of these firearms (44%, or 34 out of 77). Of the 34 firearms whose origins could be determined, most (74%) came from Canada, while most of the remainder originated in the United States (24%).”
What were the sources of the 59% of the guns that weren’t recovered or the 66% of the guns whose origins reportedly could not be traced? StatsCan is silent. But firearms smuggling seems to have been underestimated. See here, here and here.
Gun control doesn’t reduce criminal violence
Despite imposing a series of increasingly restrictive laws and regulations (C-17 in 1991, C-68 in 1995, C-71 in 2019, freezing handgun transfers, and banning so-called “assault-style” firearms) since 2020, and C-21 in 2023, Liberal gun policy has failed to reduce criminal violence.
Since 2015 in Canada:
Violent crime has jumped 34 percent;
Homicide has increased 12 percent;
Sexual assault has skyrocket by 91 percent!
See Gary Mauser, “Gun control in Canada is based on lies.”
Since 2014 in British Columbia:
The violent crime severity index jumped from 76.1 in 2014 to 96.9 in 2023
The non-violent severity index jumped from 95.1 to 107.9
See the Ministry of Public Safety and Solicitor General, British Columbia
Crime Trends, 2014 – 2023
Liberal gun laws are based on lies
Solid research studies have repeated found that Canada’s gun laws have failed to reduce criminal violence. Researchers from a variety of disciplines: economists, political scientists, even medical doctors have found that:
“Well-constructed studies demonstrate no associated effects between homicide and these legislative efforts [i.e., Bill C-17 in 1991 and C-68 in 1995], whether they discuss male or female or domestic or spousal homicide victims.”
Caillin Langmann, MD, PhD, Associate Clinical Professor, McMaster University, “Firearms Legislation, Suicide and Homicide. A Review of the Evidence,” Preventive Medicine, Vol. 152, No. Pt 1, 2021.
The Liberals’ “hug-a-thug” policies for violent criminals have failed
Politicians need to focus on violent criminals instead of legally owned firearms.
