Interesting facts on gun crimes in Canada

[Ponytail]

Last night on the news, it was noted that someone in Vancouver was shot. No big deal right? We see it all the time. Well, things aren't quite as bad in Canada as far as gun crimes go, as they are in the states.

But they noted some interesting facts. I don't recall the percentage, but gun crimes in Canada are skyrocketing. They said the 94% of gun crimes committed in Canada are committed using guns originating (sold originally) in the United States. That's a bunch. I was shocked to see that.

Now, I haven't done research yet to see what the gun laws in Canada currently are, but this is a hotbed topic right now. Elections coming up at the end of January and the current PM is screaming for "a sweeping ban of handguns". Naturally the opposition has other ideas that make more sense, and the news stations are only airing those "people on the street" that agree with the opposition...funny how news orgs can do that.

But anyway,. 94% of guns used in Canadian crimes are from the US. How messed up is that?

 

[itsbob]

Last night on the news, it was noted that someone in Vancouver was shot. No big deal right? We see it all the time. Well, things aren't quite as bad in Canada as far as gun crimes go, as they are in the states.

But they noted some interesting facts. I don't recall the percentage, but gun crimes in Canada are skyrocketing. They said the 94% of gun crimes committed in Canada are committed using guns originating (sold originally) in the United States. That's a bunch. I was shocked to see that.

Now, I haven't done research yet to see what the gun laws in Canada currently are, but this is a hotbed topic right now. Elections coming up at the end of January and the current PM is screaming for "a sweeping ban of handguns". Naturally the opposition has other ideas that make more sense, and the news stations are only airing those "people on the street" that agree with the opposition...funny how news orgs can do that.

But anyway,. 94% of guns used in Canadian crimes are from the US. How messed up is that?

Does Canada have any gun makers?? And would you buy one if they did?
It doesn't say they were illegal guns, or smuggled in the country. This is just a "normal" stat given a bad twist by the press. I'd bet that 94% probably represents the total number of American handguns in the country, not just the ones used in crime. One) how many handgun crimes are we talking about TWO) how many US handguns are there in the country, and what % does that represent of the total. Even Italian and Belgian guns are made under license in the US, so if a Canadian had a Beretta it would still be an "American handgun".

The press using a "stat" (stats don't lie, people do) twisitng it to their own belief.

 

[Ponytail]

Yes, most hand guns in Canada are made elsewhere, but they still have Gun shops and sporting goods stores that sell legal handguns.

The guns that they were talking about, are guns that are smuggled into the country.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/cpress/2005...OaFM1IB;_ylu=X3oDMTBiMW04NW9mBHNlYwMlJVRPUCUl

"As part of his anti-crime platform, Martin promised an amnesty and buy-back program to collect handguns. And in a sop to disgruntled rural voters still seething about the federal long-gun registry, he promised to waive the re-licensing fee for the problem-plagued program.

"This strategy will get handguns off our streets, will toughen penalties for those who are convicted of gun crimes, and will choke off the supply of illegal weapons," Martin said.

"Criminals need to understand, and they will come to understand, that using handguns will result, each and every time, in hard time."

But he didn't explain how the handgun ban would help stop shootings given that police say most guns used on the street are smuggled in illegally from the U.S.

Conservative Leader Stephen Harper seized on that point during a campaign stop in North Bay, Ont.

"I can tell you today without hesitation, we'll look at anything, but banning a few legally owned firearms isn't going to change the gun crimes in this country," he said.

"The ability to legally own handguns . . . has been extremely curtailed as long as I've been alive. It's not a problem. The problem is the continued flow of illegal guns in the country."

 

[Ponytail]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/cpress/20051209/ca_pr_on_na/fedelxn_reality_check_guns_3

"There are currently more than 500,000 legally registered handguns in the country, most of them in the possession of police, security guards, licensed target shooters and collectors."

This one is QUITE shocking to me for many more reasons that smuggoing guns...

"The Customs and Excise Union, representing border guards, pointed out that more than 200 roads between Canada and the U.S. are currently unguarded. "

 

[Ken King]

I think Canada has less then 200 firearms homicides a year. They have severe gun control with handguns requiring registration since the 1930s and all guns requiring registration since the mid 90s. I think that they have even recently called for the "smart gun" technology and integrated locks for all new firearms which makes it no big wonder why they are getting them from the USA.

 

[Ponytail]

I think Canada has less then 200 firearms homicides a year. They have severe gun control with handguns requiring registration since the 1930s and all guns requiring registration since the mid 90s. I think that they have even recently called for the "smart gun" technology and integrated locks for all new firearms which makes it no big wonder why they are getting them from the USA.

This from Vancouver alone...

In 2002, 150 guns were confiscated by Vancouver police. So far this year, more than 200 have been seized.

Police statistics show a corresponding increase in gun-related crime. In 2002, there were 59 shooting incidents in Vancouver. So far in 2005, there have been 68 shootings.

Taken from http://www.cbc.ca/bc/story/bc_guns-matasi20051206.html?ref=rss

Gun regulation implementation timeline: http://www.cbc.ca/news/background/guncontrol/


Ken, you were right about the numbers though... from my first article quoted

It's true, as Martin observed Thursday, that the latest figures from Statistics Canada show 65 per cent of all firearms-related homicides last year were committed with handguns.

The figure stood at a whopping 83 per cent in Ontario, the country's biggest and most urbanized province.

By contrast, rifles and shotguns were the weapons of choice on the largely rural Prairies, accounting for 62 per cent of gun slayings there.

But all those figures have to be seen in a broader context.

The 172 homicides committed with guns of all kinds in 2004 added up to just a little more than a quarter of the total 622 killings across the country.

interesting...so few handgun homicides, and the country is going apechit right now. I'm telling ya, this is ALL ove rthe news up here...well, this and anything else that they can come up with to slam the Unites States.

But hey, we can buy cheaper softwood now.

 

[Ken King]

This from Vancouver alone...

Taken from http://www.cbc.ca/bc/story/bc_guns-matasi20051206.html?ref=rss

Gun regulation implementation timeline: http://www.cbc.ca/news/background/guncontrol/


Ken, you were right about the numbers though... from my first article quoted


interesting...so few handgun homicides, and the country is going apechit right now. I'm telling ya, this is ALL ove rthe news up here...well, this and anything else that they can come up with to slam the Unites States.

But hey, we can buy cheaper softwood now.

Here is what I found for last year.

Firearm homicides increase slightly
There were 172 homicides committed with a firearm in 2004, 11 more than in 2003 and 20 more than in 2002. However, the 2004 total was still slightly below the average of 176 homicides involving firearms over the past decade.

Source - http://dissemination.statcan.ca/Daily/English/051006/d051006b.htm


I will admit that smart gun technology has not yet been implemented, but it is being debated by the Canadian government as the next step or direction that they want to move since they still haven’t been successful in getting all handguns registered since that law was enacted in the 1930s.

 

[Ponytail]

I will admit that smart gun technology has not yet been implemented, but it is being debated by the Canadian government as the next step or direction that they want to move since they still haven’t been successful in getting all handguns registered since that law was enacted in the 1930s.

They don't have the NRA, but they have several other opposition groups...
http://www.lufa.ca/

And check out some facts...over a million guns destroyed.

http://www.cfc-ccaf.gc.ca/media/program_statistics/default_e.asp

 

[2ndAmendment]

Last night on the news, it was noted that someone in Vancouver was shot. No big deal right? We see it all the time. Well, things aren't quite as bad in Canada as far as gun crimes go, as they are in the states.

But they noted some interesting facts. I don't recall the percentage, but gun crimes in Canada are skyrocketing. They said the 94% of gun crimes committed in Canada are committed using guns originating (sold originally) in the United States. That's a bunch. I was shocked to see that.

Now, I haven't done research yet to see what the gun laws in Canada currently are, but this is a hotbed topic right now. Elections coming up at the end of January and the current PM is screaming for "a sweeping ban of handguns". Naturally the opposition has other ideas that make more sense, and the news stations are only airing those "people on the street" that agree with the opposition...funny how news orgs can do that.

But anyway,. 94% of guns used in Canadian crimes are from the US. How messed up is that?

That is absolute

Updated November 3 2005<o></o>

Canadian Prime Minister Wrong on Gun Smuggling Statistics<o></o>

Professor Wendy Cukier Apparently is Source for Unsubstantiated Statistic
<st1><st1></st1></st1><o></o> <st1>Canada</st1>'s Prime Minister Martin came under fire for his claim made to American Secretary of State Rice that 50% of all guns used in violent acts in <st1>Canada</st1> are guns smuggled into <st1>Canada</st1> from the <st1><st1>United States</st1></st1>.<o></o>

The source for this statistic Mr. Martin claimed, in Question Period, was a newspaper article.<o></o>

This statistic, was reported in <st1><st1>Canada</st1></st1>'s Globe and Mail newspaper on July 3rd, 2001:<o></o>

"Wendy Cukier, a <st1><st1>Ryerson</st1> <st1>University</st1></st1> professor who is spearheading a movement to curb global gunrunning, will attend the UN conference. Handguns smuggled from the <st1>United States</st1>, she says, account for 80 per cent of illegal handgun imports in <st1>Mexico</st1> and 50 per cent of the handgun crimes in <st1><st1>Canada</st1></st1>." <o></o>

Ms. Cukier is the President of the Canadian Coalition for Gun Control

Prof. Cukier<o></o> Outdoor Canada Magazine writes of Ms. Cukier, "More than any other individual, most deem Wendy Cukier, president of the Coalition for Gun Control (CGC), as the driving force behind the much-maligned Firearms Act. A professor of justice studies at <st1>Toronto</st1>’s <st1>Ryerson</st1> <st1>University</st1>, Cukier co-founded the CGC in 1991 to crusade for more stringent gun laws following the 1989 massacre of 14 women at <st1><st1>Montreal</st1></st1>’s École polytechnique. Regarded internationally as an expert on firearms regulations, Cukier, who’s written more than 50 papers on the subject, was awarded the Governor General’s Meritorious Service Cross in 2000 for her efforts."<o></o>

This is not the first time Ms. Cukier has used this statistic. She has also used the same statistics in a Press Release issued in New York, at the close of a United Nations Small Arms Light Weapons Conference, "Professor Wendy Cukier, President of Canada’s Coalition for Gun Control, added:<o></o>

"Gun running contributes to the death of more than half a million people each year. For every death, many more are injured and traumatized. The death rates in many countries at peace are as high as in those at war. Moreover, unlike illicit drugs, which are generally illegal throughout their trafficking life, virtually all illicit small arms begin as legal weapons -- whether in the hands of state armies, police or civilians."

"From a Canadian perspective, it is also worth noting that the illicit trafficking of small arms is not just a problem in conflict zones. Half the handguns recovered in crime in <st1><st1>Canada</st1></st1> are illegally imported and efforts to reduce illicit trafficking worldwide will pay off back home. We hope that the 2001 conference on Illicit Trafficking in Small Arms in All its Aspects will address key elements of a comprehensive strategy to complements existing agreements and those under negotiation and that <st1><st1>Canada</st1></st1> will continue to exercise a leadership role. For example <st1><st1>Canada</st1></st1> signed (but has not ratified) the Organization of American States (OAS) agreement in 1997. <st1>Canada</st1> is currently involved in negotiating the Firearms Protocol, as part of the UN Convention on Transnational Organized Crime in <st1><st1>Vienna</st1></st1>. These initiatives, which establish standards for the marking, import, export, and transit movements of commercial shipments of firearms, are also essential to reducing the illegal gun trade. As well, although it has not been fully implemented, <st1><st1>Canada</st1></st1>'s new domestic legislation has already shown itself to be a useful tool in the battle against the illegal gun trade. But no country can do it alone - we need international cooperation." <o></o>

This statement was made in an article published in The Minuteman by Ms. Cukier, Ms. Peters, and Ms. Stohl, in August 2004.<o></o>

"While the Bush administration may be interested in allowing free access to guns for responsible American citizens, these policies have worldwide effects. Like pollution, guns know no borders. Whether it's <st1>Washington</st1> <st1>DC</st1>, <st1>Toronto</st1>, <st1>Port-au-Prince</st1> or <st1>Beirut</st1>, the permissive gun laws in the <st1><st1>United States</st1></st1> offer the world's criminal market easy access to an extraordinary range of lethal weapons. In fact, 50% of handguns recovered in crime in <st1>Toronto</st1> come from the <st1><st1>United States</st1></st1>. 80% of guns used in crimes in <st1>Mexico</st1> come from the <st1><st1>U.S.</st1></st1>" <o></o>

This same quote was used by Rebecca Peters of the International Action Network on Small Arms in her presentation to the United Nations in July 2005.<o></o>

continued ->

 

[2ndAmendment]

"If you don’t regulate guns within each country, you don’t have any chance of regulating their movement between countries, because guns easily cross borders. The legal sale of guns to civilians in one country becomes a source of illicit guns in the country next door.

For example, Mexican authorities estimate that 80% of guns used in crimes in <st1>Mexico</st1> originate in the <st1>US</st1>, and in <st1>Toronto</st1>, <st1>Canada</st1> some 50% of the guns used in crime came from across the border in the <st1><st1>US</st1></st1>. 60% of the world’s guns are in the hands of civilians, according to the Small Arms Survey; and civilians are the principal victims and perpetrators of gun violence. Illicit weapons almost always start as legal guns, and a minimum standard to regulate legal gun ownership is therefore a crucial component of combating the illicit trade – a point that was reinforced by the 1997 UN Crime Commission." <o></o>

The same figure was also used in another report a Brief to the Sub-Committee on International Trade, Trade Disputes and Investment of the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Trade authored by Ms. Cukier;<o>
</o>"Of the handguns recovered in crime in major cities such as <st1>Toronto</st1>, it is estimated that over half originate in the <st1>US</st1> and are smuggled into <st1><st1>Canada</st1></st1> using many of the same mechanisms used to divert legal firearms to illegal markets in the US, particularly straw purchases and gun shows." <o></o>

The only problem with this quoted statistic is that no one can find a study or survey that can provide a legitimate source for the quoted claim.<o></o>

Scholar John Lott asks, "If an American President just made up numbers in talking to a representative of another country, I can only imagine the press furor:"<o></o>

The Globe and Mail one of <st1>Canada</st1>'s national newspapers reported on page six of their paper on October 27, 2005; "Prime Minister Paul Martin incorrectly blamed the <st1>United States</st1> for gun crime in <st1><st1>Canada</st1></st1> by using an unsubstantiated figure to assert that 50 per cent of this country's gun crimes involve smuggled firearms, U.S. Ambassador David Wilkins said yesterday."<o></o> Ambassador Wilkins said that Canadian officials had admitted that in meetings with Condoleezza Rice, the American Secretary of State "that that figure was just grabbed out of thin air." The ambassador insisted the Canadian government should focus on joint efforts to combat gun-running rather than pointing fingers.<o></o>

• Canada Department of Justice Study <o></o>
• Minuteman Article by Ms. Cukier, Ms. Peters, and Ms. Stohl - August 2004

...

 

[Ken King]

Seems to me that they are well on the way to rounding them up when they feel the need. But then again it is Canada.

 

[calvertcrazy]

this is what I hate about the media... people go around quoting numbers and most are so WRONG that it shouldn't even be allowed. You have to dig and dig just to find out who put out the statistic and then determine what their motives are.... The numbers are so easy to manipulate based on the population surveyed.... I say up yours ms. c!

 

[Ponytail]

Seems to me that they are well on the way to rounding them up when they feel the need. But then again it is Canada.

Yep, like I said in my first post, it's election time, and they've made this the hotbed topic. Taxes are out of whack here, employment numbers are low, industry is suffering, and now the PM has pissed off the US again, this time by calling them to the mat on the environment.

 

[Bruzilla]

I guess the question you'all face is the same one that our politicians face: if the laws you have on the books now aren't being followed/enforced, what makes you think new laws will be any different? Your pols are just like our pols in that they think that they can regulate criminal behavior... they can't. All gun laws and bans do is take guns out of the hands of law-abiding citizens. Criminals will always find a way to get what they want.

 

[2ndAmendment]

... Criminals will always find a way to get what they want.

True. I read where even Australia is re-thinking their gun ban. It has not reduced violent crime; it has had the opposite effect. Criminals know that the average law abiding Joe can't defend himself.

 

[FromTexas]

57% of statistics are just made up.

 

[Dougstermd]

Ok lets just that 50% of the guns used in violent crimes orginate in the US. Do they shipp them with violent American criminals? Violent Canadian crimanals would still be violent if the guns were made in Canada right?

 

[SamSpade]

Last night on the news, it was noted that someone in Vancouver was shot. No big deal right? We see it all the time. Well, things aren't quite as bad in Canada as far as gun crimes go, as they are in the states.

I've been following some of this - I frequent a conservative Canadian site www.proudtobecanadian.ca - and it's all over the blog that every poll shows that NO ONE believes a gun ban will work.

This part was funny - if you've ever watched CBC, the government subsidized news broadcast in Canada. If you think OUR news is biased......

http://www.conservativegroundswell.com/audiovideo/ProudToBeCanadian.ca__Liberals_to_ban_guns.wmv

 

[Ponytail]

I've been following some of this - I frequent a conservative Canadian site www.proudtobecanadian.ca - and it's all over the blog that every poll shows that NO ONE believes a gun ban will work.

This part was funny - if you've ever watched CBC, the government subsidized news broadcast in Canada. If you think OUR news is biased......

http://www.conservativegroundswell.com/audiovideo/ProudToBeCanadian.ca__Liberals_to_ban_guns.wmv

I'm in Canada, and have been watching CBC. It's unreal. It really is. I have never heard more US bashing in all my life.

When you go to the movie theater here, or even look up the movies online at http://www.empiretheatres.com/, for EVERY movie, they list what connection there is with that movie to Canada. ANYTHING that they can find to make a for Canada, they do it. Pretty pathetic.