So the perception in Toronto is that gun violence is up and local, federal and the Toronto police department have been parroting the same line, that 50% of guns used illegally are domestically sourced and it’s an absolute lie.
“Currently, there is no national repository for this type of information in Canada. The Canadian Firearms Program does not collect or track national statistics with regard to the origin of crime guns,” said Sgt. Marie Damian.
Source: CBC
The RCMP which manages the Canadian Firearms Program does not have any data on where guns are coming from whether from the US or from domestic sources. Perhaps the local police department keeps track of this right? Well here’s the information made available by a Dennis Young through a freedom of information request.
So if we look at the data last year there were 726 crime guns seized and of those, 67 could be traced to a licensed owner or ~9%. So where is the 50% that the politicians and the Toronto Police keep saying? Even the city’s own police department’s data doesn’t back this stat up… Let’s take a look at the third chart as I find it the most interesting as ~50% of the guns seized are in the prohibited class (again it’s fairly consistent). What’s most interesting is that as a legal owner with both my PAL & RPAL, I cannot purchase a prohibited class firearm.
In fact no one who’s received their license after 1996 can, only those who were in possession of those types of guns before the Firearms Act came into place can yet they account for 50% of all firearms seized in the last 10 years worth of data. Don’t believe me, well download the report and take a look yourself.
Look obviously there’s an issue with gang violence and crimes committed by those who use firearms but let’s be frank it’s not someone like myself doing it. To really tackle the root causes of these things requires a multifaceted approach (dealing with lack of opportunity, systemic racism, etc) and will require many years if not a generation to fix and that’s just not sexy for politicians. They want a quick fix that can keep them in power 4 years from now and it’s not possible when dealing with such large societal problems but hey let’s blame legal owners, it’s an easy bait and switch.
Haggling over handgun statistics is a moot point. If banning handguns saves even just one life I would say it is worth it. I say let’s try a ban and see what happens. Certainly giving up target shooting isn’t too great a sacrifice right!
If you’re focusing on saving lives, a handgun ban is the wrong way to do it. Alcohol & car accidents kill way more than guns (let alone handguns) but we don’t talk about prohibiting alcohol or banning cars.
It’s ok if it’s your pet cause, the data doesn’t back you up though.
Since you’re so fond of stats let’s look at another set of numbers – polls indicate that a majority of Canadians support banning handguns. Let’s start with removing guns and work our way up to booze and other things. It is the will of the people.
Typical rhetoric, I did you the courtesy of addressing your concerns and you move the goal posts to talk about something else. What happened to if it just saves one life or is that just a token when the facts don’t match your perceived reality?
https://www.canada.ca/en/public-health/services/publications/chief-public-health-officer-reports-state-public-health-canada/2015-alcohol-consumption-canada.html
That’s many times more gun deaths, seems to me you’d get more “bang for your buck” if you focused on things that could really save lives. For the record I do not think banning alcohol is the right move, I don’t believe in banning anything.
Going back to guns (your token thing) yes let’s do something that will have a negligible impact on saving lives because you don’t like guns. That’s ok, like I tell people who are anti abortion, if you don’t like abortions don’t get one, if you don’t like guns don’t get one either. For me are purely a hobby sure if they’re banned I’ll just play with something else but at least I’m intellectually consistent and feel banning any item will not work. Criminal elements will still get said items anyway.
Why not address the root causes of gun violence? I understand that’s a multifaceted issue (systemic racism, lack of opportunity, etc) that requires us to address many of society’s ails but I feel that’d be the best approach. Nah it’s be easier to ban guns, just look at how successful society is at banning drugs.
Also isn’t it a problem that the government is downright lying? Whether my cause or not, I’d want to hear what’s actually true.
How do you feel about knife violence?
https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?pid=3510006901
It’s on par with shootings, do you have instruments of death in your kitchen? If it saves just one life right…
Aww too bad I was hoping you’d reply but I guess when the facts don’t support your position all you have is bluster and feelings. I even suggested some things to address the root cause of gun violence, what you just want easy answers? I’ll give you another freebie, if you want shootings to go down, legalize all drugs. I’m cool with taking power away from organized crime and giving the government regulatory powers, it’s something I’ve said many times on my blog.
Come on don’t be a coward.
[…] are mine & gun owners are upset because that’s a blatant lie and I illustrated that fact previously with actual Toronto police data which does not say that at […]