If guns kill people, why don’t they account
for most murder and suicide deaths in Canada? The answer is because
people kill people, and they don’t need guns to do it.
It may surprise you to
find out that the data shows that less than 30% of homicides are committed
using guns, most of those being handguns, not long guns that were part of Canada’s
now-defunct registry. The simple reason for this is that Canada has robust
gun control laws that require background and mental health checks for owner
licenses and wait periods, and mandatory registration of all but the
most basic single-action shotguns and rifles. As a result, knives vie consistently with
firearms for the honour of top spot in homicide weapon of choice. Yet
we see no calls for bans on knives or registries for knives. Knives are far
easier to obtain and access, which is why they also account for over 30% of
domestic violence assaults, compared to only 18% for guns.
Homicides do not even account for most of the
firearms-related deaths in Canada; a whopping 75% are suicides, as compared to
20% homicides. Even with suicides, only 16% of all suicide deaths are
by firearms. No one wants to see loved ones in pain end their lives, but gun-related suicides only dropped by 2% during the last long gun registry. Other forms rose by the same amount (such as hanging), which meant that the
availability of (or access to) guns was not a factor in whether someone
intending to commit suicide can or will. There must be other ways to help our
loved ones in mental distress.
No one can deny that in the last five
years, gun homicides have been climbing. Statistics Canada has attributed this
to a rise in gang activity. Such gangs often rely on illegal guns from the United States, which never appear in the Royal Canadian Mounted Police’s registration database.
In fact, very few guns used in homicides are registered. Again, most guns used in gang-related criminal activity are handguns, which would
never be part of a long gun registry. Yet our last long gun registry, initially
budgeted at just $2 million, ballooned to an astounding $1-2 billion.
That’s a lot of Canadian taxpayer money
that basically went to waste. The long-gun registry failed to curb violent gun
crimes, stem gun suicides, or be of any real benefit to Canadians. Canada’s
strict gun controls are doing their job: Canada ranks quite low on the list of
gun homicides per country, at around 5.1 per million people. Rather than
another registry, wouldn’t it be better to see that money go to things that
might actually have an impact on the causes for crime, homicides, and suicides?
The money should be applied to programs and initiatives that help curb the rise
of gangs, stem the flow of illegal firearms into Canada and, probably most
importantly based on the number of deaths involved, support mental health
programs (and access to such services) that would help those that feel that
suicide or violence towards others is their only option. If Canada put the same
money used for the registry to wiser use, perhaps the real reasons behind gun
violence and deaths could be solved. Guns don’t kill people; people do. That’s
where we should be focusing our efforts; on solutions that help the people
behind gun deaths.
References
Berthiaume, Lee. “Statistics Canada
blames guns, gangs, as homicide rate hits 10-year high.” CBC News.
CBC. November 21, 2018. Online. https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/stats-can-homicide-rate-1.4914646
Fisher, Daniel. “Canada Tried
Registering Long Guns – And Gave Up.” Forbes. January 22, 2013. Online. https://www.forbes.com/sites/danielfisher/2013/01/22/canada-tried-registering-long-guns-and-gave-up/#2c6fbe935a1b
Fletcher, Robson. “Canada gun facts:
Here are the latest stats on firearm deaths, injuries and crime.” CBC News.
August 30, 2018, updated August 31, 2018. Online. https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/canada-gun-facts-crime-accidental-shootings-suicides-1.4803378
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Hung, Kwing, Ph.D. Firearm
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LEGISinfo. “House Government Bill, C-71.” Parliament of Canada.
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Lopez, German. “America is one of 6
countries that make up more than half of gun deaths worldwide.” Vox. August
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Maloney,
Ryan. “Bill
C-71: Long-Gun Registry Dead For Years, Still Focus In Canada’s Firearms
Debate.” HuffPost
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Paperny, Anna Mehler. “Gun violence by the numbers: How America,
Canada and the world compare.” Global News. December 3, 2015. Updated December
5, 2018. Online. https://globalnews.ca/news/2378037/gun-violence-by-the-numbers-how-america-canada-and-the-world-compare/
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Royal Canadian Mounted Police
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Frequently Asked Questions - General.”. Royal Canadian Mounted Police. Online. http://www.rcmp-grc.gc.ca/cfp-pcaf/faq/index-eng.htm
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Montreal Gazette. Online. http://www.montrealgazette.com/news/gun-crimes/index.html
Statistics Canada. “Juristat Bulletin-Quick Fact: Firearm-related
violent crime in Canada.”. Statistics Canada. June 28, 2018. Corrected
July 24, 2018. Online. https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/en/pub/85-005-x/2018001/article/54962-eng.htm
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