MEMORANDUM FOR THE MINISTER: FIREARMS-RELATED VIOLENT CRIME IN CANADA, 2009-2017 – Public Safety Canada Access to Information File: A-2018-00244 – May 29, 2019 Response to my Informal Request – EXCERPTS:
- In 2017, there were approximately 7,700 victims of violent crime reported to police in Canada in 2017 (excluding Quebec where data were not available) where a firearm was present. MY NOTE: ‘present’ does not mean ‘used’.
- The number (and rate) of victims of firearm-related violent crime declined 33% between 2009 and 2013, reaching its lowest point in recent years. This downward trend stopped in 2013, and has since gone up by 42% by 2017.
- In spite of an increase in the overall volume of firearm-related violent crime, the 2017 rate of 27.3 victims per 100,000 Canadians was still 5% lower than in 2009..
- While the number and rate of break and enter incidents to steal firearms steadily increased since 2009, it declined slightly in 2017.
- Further, the number and rate of crimes for unsafe storage also declined in 2017, following several years of general decline.
- Break and enter and unsafe storage trends have both declined in 2017. These findings may contradict narratives which identify break and enter as a key method to illegally obtain firearms, both in private homes and in commercial establishments.
STATISTICS CANADA’S DEFINITION OF ‘FIREARMS RELATED CRIME’ IS VERY MISLEADING – Number Of Violent Crimes Involving Guns Exaggerated By An Over-Inclusive Definition Of Gun Crime – By Gary Mauser – Canada Free Press – February 23, 2015 http://canadafreepress.com/article/6996