Handguns present in majority of firearm-related crimes: StatCan

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Firearm-related homicides have gone up 37% over the previous 11 years and handguns had been essentially the most generally used weapon in such crimes, a report from Statistics Canada has discovered, but it surely warns there are massive knowledge gaps in data assortment.

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The report taking a look at developments in gun crime in Canada between 2009 and 2020 was launched Friday.

The proportion of homicides the place a firearm was used rose from 26% in 2013 to 37% in 2020, it stated. Handguns had been the weapon of alternative in 59% of the firearm crimes, it added.

“Firearm-related violent crime usually represents lower than 3% of police-reported violent crime in Canada,” stated the report.

“However, it has a major emotional and bodily affect on victims, households and communities. Moreover, charges of firearm-related violence have seen a common enhance over the previous a number of years.”

About 6% of gun crimes had been associated to gang violence, it stated.

“Although firearms are current in a minority of felony incidents, the speed of firearm-related violent crime has been rising in recent times.”

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An earlier Statistics Canada report stated using weapons in violent crime elevated 81% from 2009 to 2019.

A July 2021 report by the company stated there have been 8,344 victims of violent crimes the place weapons had been used.

The brand new report cautioned, nevertheless, that there are gaps in knowledge the place weapons are used, together with the kind of firearms, possession and storage.

There’s “no constant definition of a taking pictures utilized by police providers in Canada, nor are there constant standards used to evaluate whether or not a taking pictures truly occurred,” it stated.

“Of specific concern, there’s at present little data accessible to find out the supply of firearms utilized in crime: for instance, whether or not a gun utilized in a criminal offense was stolen, illegally bought or smuggled into the nation. This data is usually not recorded by police providers, recorded inconsistently or, in some instances, the data is just not accessible.”

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This implies not all weapons can be found for tracing, it famous.

In response to the report, handguns had been concerned in about 75% of violent robberies, and 60% of homicides, different violations inflicting loss of life and tried murders. Handguns had been additionally concerned in 54% in sexual offences and 51% of firearm-specific violent offences in 2020, the report stated.

There have been 743 murder victims in 2020, of which 277 had been killed utilizing a gun, stated the report.

The primary 12 months of the pandemic noticed 8,344 victims of crimes involving weapons, which was unchanged in comparison with 2019, it stated.

Charges of gun crime in 2020 had been highest in Saskatchewan, Manitoba and the Territories, it stated.

Cities with the best proportions of gun crimes had been Regina, Brantford, Ont., Toronto, Saskatoon, Winnipeg and Windsor, Ont., it stated.

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“It’s price noting that Toronto had a comparatively low fee of firearm-related violent crime, however these firearm-related crimes accounted for a comparatively excessive proportion of all violent crime,” stated the report.

Gun crimes, it stated had been largely larger in rural areas than city areas, which could be attributed to a variety of causes together with extra firearm possession. Firearms are often utilized in searching or farming and are round “when an offence is dedicated,” it stated.

About 63% of firearm victims in city areas concerned handguns, stated the report. The agricultural north has seen a 33% enhance in handgun crimes over the previous six years, it added.

“Whereas charges of handgun-related crimes had been usually larger in city areas than in rural areas, the best charges of handgun-related crime in Canada had been reported in northern Saskatchewan, which is all rural, and the Northwest Territories,” it stated.

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The Canadian Prison Code classifies firearms into three classes: prohibited, restricted, and non-restricted.

Prohibited firearms embody computerized firearms, sawed-off rifles and shotguns. Handguns are restricted whereas rifles and shotguns, also called long-guns, are often non-restricted.

The legislation requires an individual to have a sound license to personal or possess a firearm and purchase ammunition.

The federal authorities amended laws to ban over 1,500 fashions of assault-style firearms, notably semi-automatic rifles, after the Nova Scotia mass taking pictures in 2020 the place a gunman driving a duplicate police automobile killed 22 individuals.

Males made up 67% of these by gun violence though girls had been extra affected in rural areas, it stated. Many of the victims had been between the ages of 18 and 24, it added.

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The accused is most frequently a stranger in firearm crimes, the report stated though this was much less typically the case in rural areas.

“One in 4 girls who had been victims of a firearm-related violent crime in 2020 had been victimized by a present or former partner or different intimate associate, in contrast with 2% of males.”

The data gaps recognized within the report additionally included the extent of the involvement of organized crime, which it stated is at present unclear.

“Patterns within the ethnicity, Indigenous id — apart from murder knowledge — and socioeconomic traits of each victims and individuals accused of firearm-related violence are additionally unknown.”

The company stated it’s working with the Canadian Centre for Justice and Neighborhood Security Statistics on getting uniform knowledge throughout the nation.

“It must be famous that it might take just a few years for these modifications to be totally applied by police providers in a approach that enables the reporting of this data.”