Hamilton police seized 27 guns used in crimes last year — where did they come from?
Provincial tracing program statistics break down source of firearms, type of weapon
News Nov 02, 2019 by
Nicole O'Reilly The Hamilton Spectator
Most of the illegal guns seized by Hamilton police in 2018 — 15 — were traced to the United States, specifically Michigan, Connecticut and Georgia. - The Hamilton Spectator file phote
In the aftermath of a shooting, police search around the crime scene, checking anywhere the shooter may have dropped the gun.
Sometimes they get lucky and the gun is found. Or, perhaps, police searching a stolen vehicle find a gun stashed under the seat. Or on a person arrested. Or they find a gun with a rubbed-off serial number.
All of these are what police call "crime guns."
Last year, Hamilton police recovered 27. The year before, in 2017, it was 23.
But finding the gun is only part of the story. What happens after? How and where is the gun traced? And, perhaps most importantly, what can they tell us about how criminals are accessing and using guns?
In Ontario, all crime guns are sent by local police to the Firearms Analysis and Tracing Enforcement (FATE) program to be traced. The multidisciplinary team is under the
Criminal Intelligence Service Ontario (CISO), a partnership between police and the province that focuses on organized crime.
The team also includes the Toronto Police Service, Ontario Provincial Police, the United States Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco Firearms and Explosives, the Canada Border Services Agency and the
RCMP's national firearms program, said Brent Ross, spokesperson for the Ontario Ministry of the Solicitor General.
"Through its unique partnership, FATE conducts various checks to establish the origin of the crime gun's purchase; the results of these checks are shared exclusively with the requester," he said.
Most of what this team does is not spoken about publicly and gun statistics are hard to access. However, Hamilton police shared some local numbers from FATE with The Spectator.
Of the 27 crime guns seized by Hamilton police last year, 20 were handguns and seven were long guns. Most of the illegal guns — 15 — were traced to the United States, specifically Michigan, Connecticut and Georgia. Four were traced to Canada and nine were untraceable. (While that adds up to 28, not 27, Hamilton police said they couldn't account for the discrepancy in the numbers, as they come from a FATE report that could not be clarified.)
In 2017, 10 of the crime guns seized were handguns and 13 were long guns. Two were traced to the United States (Alabama and New York), 11 were traced to Canada and 10 were untraceable.
The United States has long been known as the source for most of Canada's crime guns. Some states are more attractive to gun traffickers because of softer gun laws — which vary from state to state — or their proximity to the border.
There have been some comments reported in Canadian media alleging the number of Canadian-sourced crime guns is on the rise. This includes Toronto police quoted as saying half of Toronto's crime guns in 2017 were Canadian.
But national statistics on gun sources aren't available. The Ministry of the Solicitor General declined to share provincewide figures, citing "ongoing investigations and court cases."
The path for Canadian-sourced guns is varied. Some are stolen, some are legally purchased and then sold on the black market and, in the rarest of cases, some legally owned guns are used in crimes.
There have been 38 shootings in Hamilton so far this year. There were 25 last year and a high of 41 in 2017.
The only high-profile shooting during that time involving a legally registered gun was the
July 30 murder of 28-year-old Nikko Sienna. The alleged shooter was Sienna's next-door neighbour, 26-year-old Mark Duckett, who is charged with first-degree murder.
In Canada, there is a detailed screening process when applying for a firearm licence, which includes a criminal record check and family being interviewed. There are also strict rules around how guns are stored and transported. If there are concerns, police can seize a gun and the owner can face a prohibition hearing.
"The crime guns we recover tend not to be legally owned by the user," said Staff Sgt. Jason Cattle, of the Hamilton police gang and weapons enforcement unit.
Occasionally police see legally owned guns used in domestic violence. But Cattle said they generally don't see them used in robberies, gang shootings or home invasions.
When police find a gun, it is examined by the forensic unit, including for fingerprints, he said. They look for identifying features — including whether there is a serial number — and the gun is photographed. Then it's sent to FATE to be traced.
If the serial number is legible, police will speak with the original owner to try to find out how the weapon became a crime gun.
The gang and weapons enforcement unit does not investigate all gun crimes — for example non-fatal shootings are investigated by divisional detectives. However, the gang and weapons unit is tasked with looking into a crime gun's backgrounds.
"For instance, whether the gun was stolen and who it might have been stolen from," Cattle said.
Gun thefts are investigated every year in Hamilton, but are "not common," he said. As of October, there were seven thefts of guns from legal owners reported in Hamilton. In 2018, there were four; in 2017 there were eight; in 2016 there were 10.
While gun crimes vary each year, Cattle said there has not been any significant changes in the type of guns police see on the streets — mostly handguns and long guns.
"Criminal groups or individuals usually access guns from other criminals," Cattle said. "These guns are usually stolen or obtained illegally."
https://www.thespec.com/news-story/...n-crimes-last-year-where-did-they-come-from-/