TOWHEY: New crime data contradicts government gun plans
Published: December 13, 2019
The latest crime data released by Statistics Canada make a mockery of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s posturing on gun violence.
The newly released data on homicides and gun violence in Canada during 2018 hold some surprises. Overall, murders are down – not up. Gun killings are down – not up. And gang-related homicides are also down – not up. This holds true almost everywhere in Canada, except in Ontario and Quebec.
For the Liberal government in Ottawa hell-bent on banning hunting and sport rifles, the cold, hard truth spelled out in this StatsCan report is very inconvenient, indeed.
Nationwide, murder was down in 2018
According to StatsCan, there were 651 homicides in Canada last year. That’s down 4% from 2017.
As much as murders are shocking events to good and honest people, and garner 24/7 media coverage, it’s important to remember – as StatsCan points out – homicide is exceedingly rare in Canada.
Compare 651 homicides last year (666 in 2017) to StatsCan figures for other causes of death in 2017 (the last year for which data is publicly available.) 1,968 people died in vehicle accidents. 4,108 died from accidental drug overdoses. 4,904 Canadians died from falls.
A prudent government motivated to reduce death and suffering might focus first on ladders.
Gun deaths down overall
Most murders are not committed with firearms. Last year, 249 of Canada’s 651 homicides were committed with a gun, down 8% from 2017 – the first reduction since 2013.
Maybe the wholesale trampling of Canadian freedoms by the government is needed after all.
Something’s wrong in Ontario
The national reduction in homicides and gun murders did not hold for Ontario which chalked up 69 more homicides in 2018 than 2017.
Toronto, in particular, had a bad year with 142 homicide victims – the most ever reported in what StatsCan calls the Toronto Census Metropolitan Area since 1981. That’s a 53% increase in victims and a 50% increase in the homicide rate over 2017, says StatsCan.
In fairness, three high-profile and unusual events helped spike Toronto’s murder toll: the Van Attack in April 2018 that killed 10, the eight serial murders attributed to Bruce MacArthur, plus two people killed during the Danforth terror attack. But, even without these events, the kill rate would still have ballooned 29% in the Toronto CMA.
Ontario also posted an increase in gun-related homicides: 36 more last year than in 2017.
Gang homicides down, but…
The overall rate of gang-related homicides was down across Canada for the first time in three years – except in Quebec and Ontario.
Still, criminal gangs remain the driving force behind homicides by gun. More than half (51%) of firearm-related homicides were related to gang activity, says Stats Can.
In Toronto, 94% of gang-related homicides were committed with a gun in 2018. That’s a 2% increase over 2017.
These facts suggest all the tough talk by Toronto mayor John Tory about banning guns and getting tough on crime have been, in a word, useless.
It’s an interesting correlation. Where homicides, especially gun killings, are down – the rate of gang-related killing is down. But where it’s up … it’s way up.
It’s almost like criminal gangs are the problem – not lawful gun ownership.
Illegal handguns the problem, not rifles
According to StatsCan, handguns have been the firearm of choice for murderers since the early 1990s. In 2018, 57% of gun-related homicides were committed with handguns.
Nation-wide, 83% of gang-related homicides used a gun – 85% of those were handguns.
Once again these data from the government’s own statistics agency point out the madness behind Trudeau plan to fight gun violence.
Instead of targeting gangs and illegal handguns in cities, he is focusing his legislation on banning rifles owned by law-abiding citizens in rural areas.
Most murder victims are criminals
The StatsCan data also confirm another fact the government prefers to ignore: most murderers are repeat offenders and half of their victims are themselves criminals.
In 2018, 63% of adults 18 years and older accused of homicide had a criminal record in Canada. One-third of accused persons 12 to 17 years old had a youth record.
Just over half (51%) of adult homicide victims in 2018 had a Canadian criminal record.
If the government spent as much time and money tracking known criminals as they do law-abiding gun owners, odds are Canada’s murder rate would plummet to record lows.
Just a thought.
https://torontosun.com/opinion/columnists/towhey-new-crime-data-contradicts-government-gun-plans
