Bill C-19: An Act to amend the Criminal Code and the Firearms Act Presentation to the Senate Committee on Legal and Constitutional Affairs By Julie McAuley Director, Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics
Victims of violent crime committed with a firearm, Canada, by type of firearm, 2 to 21 rate per 1, population 35 3 25 2 15 1 Total firearms Handgun Rifle/shotgun Sawed-off rifle/shotgun 5 2 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 21 2 Note: Data are based upon a subset of police services which, in 21, covered 58% of the population of Canada.
Victims of violent crime committed with a firearm, by province and territory, Canada, 21 Province or territory Number Rate 1 Province or territory Number Rate 1 Newfoundland and Labrador 54 1.6 Saskatchewan 382 37.3 Prince Edward Island 9 6.3 Alberta 1,56 28.4 Nova Scotia 192 2.4 British Columbia 1,16 25.6 New Brunswick 111 14.8 Yukon 25 72.4 Quebec 2,312 29.4 Northwest Territories 27 61.7 Ontario 2,497 19.1 Nunavut 43 129.4 Manitoba 46 38.4 CANADA 8,328 24.6 1. Rates are calculated on the basis of 1, population. 3
Victims of violent crime committed with a firearm, by census metropolitan area, Canada, 21 Census metropolitan area No. rate¹ Census metropolitan area No. rate¹ Census metropolitan area St. John s 16 8.6 Peterborough 16 13.2 Thunder Bay 24 2. Halifax 116 28.8 Toronto 1,237 23.8 Winnipeg 33 38.8 Moncton 11 8.1 Hamilton 186 34.9 Regina 55 25.2 Saint John 19 18.4 St. Catharines-Niagara 64 14.4 Saskatoon 99 36.5 No. rate¹ Saguenay 22 15.1 Kitchener-Cambridge- Waterloo 92 17.6 Calgary 393 31.5 Québec 7 9.3 Brantford 19 14.3 Edmonton 293 24.9 Trois-Rivières 13 8.7 Guelph 6 4.8 Kelowna 42 23.5 Montréal 1,53 39.7 London 118 24.6 Abbotsford-Mission 6 34.2 Gatineau² 71 23.2 Windsor 66 21.9 Vancouver 762 31.9 Ottawa³ 198 21.1 Barrie 17 12.2 Victoria 28 7.8 Kingston 1 6.2 Greater Sudbury 19 11.6 CANADA 8,328 24.6 1. Rates are calculated on the basis of 1, population. Census metropolitan area (CMA) populations have been adjusted to follow policing boundaries. 2. Gatineau refers to the Quebec part of the Ottawa Gatineau CMA. 3. Ottawa refers to the Ontario part of the Ottawa Gatineau CMA. Note: The Oshawa CMA is excluded due to the incongruity between the police service jurisdictional boundaries and the CMA boundaries. The Sherbrooke CMA is excluded due to the unavailability of data in 21. 4
Victims of violent crime, by type of weapon, Canada, 21 percentage of victims of violent crime 7 6 58. 5 4 3 26.1 2 1 Physical force No weapon/threats 5.2 Knives 2.4 2. Club/blunt instrument Firearm 6.3 Other (e.g. fire, explosives) 5
Victims of violent crime by selected offence and type of weapon, Canada, 21 percentage of total victims 45 4 35 3 25 2 32.6 31.8 41.2 37.3 18.9 Firearms Knives 15 1 5 Homicide Attempted murder 14. Robbery 8.2 1.8 Forcible confinement 6.4.9 1.3 Assault 2.8 Uttering threats.3 1.2 Sexual assault 2.2 Total 5.8 Note: Percentages are calculated excluding cases where the weapon was reported by police as unknown. 6
Victims of homicide, by cause of death, Canada, 198 to 21 rate per 1, population 1.2 1..8 Shootings Stabbings Beatings.6.4.2. 198 1983 1986 1989 1992 1995 1998 21 24 27 21 Source: Statistics Canada, Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics, Homicide Survey. 7
Victims of homicide committed with a firearm, Canada, by type of firearm, 198 to 21 rate per 1, population.7.6.5 Rifle/shotgun Handgun Sawed-off rifle/shotgun.4.3.2.1 198 1983 1986 1989 1992 1995 1998 21 24 27 21 Source: Statistics Canada, Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics, Homicide Survey. 8
Registration of recovered firearms used to commit homicide, Canada, 25 to 21 percentage of recovered firearms that were registered 1 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 32.9 33.8 17.2 25.5 33.3 43.5 25 26 27 28 29 21 Note: Based upon the number of homicides committed with a firearm that was recovered by police. Between 25 and 21, police reported that 36% of firearms used to commit homicide were recovered. Of these, 34% were owned by the accused person, 5% by the victim and 28% by another person. The ownership of the remaining 32% was unknown. Source: Statistics Canada, Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics, Homicide Survey. 9
Victims of homicide, by motive and type of weapon, Canada, 2 to 21 percentage of homicides 45 4 36.8 41.1 35 Firearm-related 3 Non-firearm-related 25 2 16.7 17.8 15 1 5 6.6 12.9 1.6 8. 8.9 5.6 6. 7.2 7.4 4.6 3.5 6.2 Settling of accounts Argument or quarrel Frustration, anger, or despair Financial gain Revenge Jealousy No apparent motive Other motives Note: Between 2 and 21, 84% of all firearm-related homicides motivated by settling of accounts were gang-related. Source: Statistics Canada, Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics, Homicide Survey. 1
Victims of robbery, by type of weapon, Canada, 198 to 21 rate per 1, population 7 6 Robbery no weapon Robbery other weapon Robbery firearms 5 4 3 2 1 198 1983 1986 1989 1992 1995 1998 21 24 27 21 Note: Revisions have been applied to robbery back to 1998. As such, there is a break in the data series between 1997 and 1998 and any comparisons between the two time series should be made with caution. 11
Firearm-related offences, Canada, 2 to 21 rate per 1, population 7 6 5 Pointing a firearm Using firearm in commission of offence Discharge firearm with intent 4 3 2 1 2 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 21 12
Persons accused of violent crime committed with a firearm, by age, Canada, 21 rate per 1, population 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 12 15 18 21 24 27 3 33 36 39 42 45 48 51 54 57 6 63 65+ 13
Suicide, by type of weapon, Canada, 198 to 28 rate per 1, population 16 14 12 1 8 6 4 Total Suicide - non - firearm Suicide - firearm 2 198 1984 1988 1992 1996 2 24 28 Source: Statistics Canada, Health Statistics Division, Canadian Vital Statistics, Death Database. 14