TheGunBlog.ca — Fatal gang shootings rose in Canada for a third straight year in 2017, Statistics Canada said today. They almost doubled as a proportion of total homicides since 2015, the year the Liberal Party was elected to government.

“The proportion of gang-related homicides committed with a firearm has been steadily increasing since 2015,” the Ottawa-based statistics agency said today in its annual homicide report. “Gang-related homicides committed with a firearm represented 12 percent of all homicides in 2015. By 2017, this proportion had grown to 21 percent.”

430 Active Gangs

Canada hosts more than 430 active gangs, the federal police said in July in its employee magazine.

The Liberals of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau promised a year ago to channel tax revenue to police to fight a swelling wave of attacks and gun trafficking by individuals and gangs in cities and rural areas.

None of it had been shared as of June 1, Trudeau’s crime minister said in a filing to parliament on June 4 and published on Twitter by a policy advisor to the opposition party leader.

Last Resort

The failure of the federal, provincial and local governments to keep residents safe has led many to rely on firearms for protection, even though the law doesn’t allow buying guns for personal defence.

Read: Albertans Seek Info on Armed Defence, Edmonton Journal Reports

The 266 shooting homicides last year out of 660 total homicides represented less than 0.08 percent of police-reported violent crime in Canada, according to calculations by TheGunBlog.ca. All homicide was less than 0.2 percent, StatCan said.

Stabbings Exceed Shootings

Total firearm-related offences, including those related to paperwork or storage, represent “less than one half of one percent” of all crimes, StatCan said in March.

Even after a 49 percent jump in shooting homicides in the two years ending in 2017, the 3,371 deaths by stabbing this millennium exceed the 3,292 deaths by bullet, according to calculations by TheGunBlog.ca based on StatCan data.

Firearm users in Canada fall into two broad groups that have almost zero overlap.

Many “Good Guys”

The first group is the safe, responsible users who are authorized or required to use guns for personal and public safety, hunting, recreation and competition.

It includes more than 2 million civilians approved by the federal police to own guns, millions of unlicensed family and friends who shoot under their supervision, and some 180,000 military, police and law-enforcement officers.

Few “Bad Guys”

The second group is an unknown number of unauthorized users made up of violent criminals, gangs and terrorists. They generally obtain and use their guns illegally and rarely request the authorizations from police.

Trudeau is preparing gun bans and other restrictions and penalties on hunters and sport shooters in the first group.

All guns are banned already for everyone under threat of prison unless they obtain temporary waivers from the federal police.

Toronto’s Murder Record

Toronto alone had 58 homicides by bullet in 2017, more than any other city and representing 21 percent of the total firearm-related homicides. This year marks a record number of homicides in Canada’s largest city.

Homicide by shooting exceeded stabbing in 2017 for the second consecutive year. The last time fatal shootings outpaced stabbings two years in a row was in 2001.

More From Statistics Canada

• “Homicide in Canada hit its highest rate in almost a decade in 2017. Much of the increase was the result of more firearm-related and gang-related incidents.”
• “The firearm-related homicide rate increased 18 percent from 2016 to 0.72 per 100,000 population—the highest rate since 1992.”
• “After declining 37 percent from 2009 to 2014, the gang-related homicide rate rose for a third consecutive year in 2017. Overall, there were 0.44 gang-related homicides per 100,000 population, the highest rate since comparable data became available in 2005.”
• “Handguns accounted for about 6 in 10 firearm homicides in 2017. Prior to 1990, rifles or shotguns were used far more frequently than handguns. However, a shift toward an increased use of handguns can be seen starting in the early 1990s.”
• Source: Homicide in Canada, 2017 (21 November 2018). Infographic.

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