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The can.talk.guns FAQ List
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Your help is welcome and appreciated!
Last modified:
01 December 1998 (minor changes made when Bill C-68 came into force)
My aim is to keep this FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) list as short as
possible while covering a lot of areas quickly and pointing people toward
more information. Instead of providing exhaustive detail, I have listed
references and "recommended reading". The trade-off between precision and
brevity will be an ongoing struggle.
This FAQ list has undergone a major restructuring that is not yet complete.
The "myths and facts" statements have finally been amalgamated with the FAQs
(where they always belonged). I hope to have it better-organized and
cleaned up Real Soon Now[TM].
============================= Table of Contents =============================
Sections/lines that have been changed recently are marked with a "|" in
the first column. (Typo corrections don't get marked.)
A. Frequently Asked Questions
1. [1]Where is the latest version of this FAQ list?
2. [2]What about the 1400 Canadians who are killed each year with guns?
3. [3]But even if most of the deaths are suicides, won't gun control help?
4. [4]Wouldn't it help to at least ban handguns?
5. [5]What about "military-style assault weapons"?
6. [6]Don't we have to do something about violence against women?
7. [7]Does gun control work?
8. [8]Doesn't the US have many more guns and higher murder rates than
Canada?
9. [9]But if anyone could get a gun, like in the US, wouldn't we have higher
10. [10]What about violent crime rates?
11. [11]What about the Vancouver/Seattle study?
murder rates, just like the US?
12. [12]What about children and firearms?
13. [13]What about firearm accidents in Canada?
14. [14]Why do some say we have a right to have and use firearms when we have
no "2nd amendment" in Canada?
15. [15]Isn't the US-style self-defence illegal in Canada?
16. [16]What is Bill C-68?
17. [17]What is Bill C-17?
18. [18]What about Bill C-51?
19. [19]What did the Auditor General write about "gun control" in Canada?
20. [20]What is unlawful about our gun control laws?
21. [21]Did a judge really say our laws are badly written?
22. [22]Was there a coroner's report that focussed on firearm storage?
23. [23]What did the coroner write about the murders at L'Ecole Polytechnique
?
24. [24]What is "banned" in Canada?
25. [25]What is "restricted" in Canada?
26. [26]How many people in Canada legally own firearms?
27. [27]Do tougher gun control laws reduce armed robberies?
28. [28]Do mandatory jail sentences deter the armed criminal?
29. [29]What about the claim that "People without guns injure, people with
guns kill"?
30. [30]Aren't dogs more regulated than firearms?
31. [31]Aren't motor vehicles more regulated and taxed than guns?
32. [32]Aren't guns more lethal on a per use basis than motor vehicles?
33. [33]Doesn't easy access to firearms contribute to crime?
34. [34]Don't the majority of Canadians support tougher gun control?
35. [35]Don't the experts support tougher gun control?
36. [36]Isn't a gun in the home 43 times more likely to kill a friend or
loved-one than be used against an intruder?
37. [37]Didn't someone find that firearm ownership causes higher murder
and suicide rates?
[38]B. Questions firearm prohibitionists can't answer
C. Miscellaneous
[39]Recommended reading:
[40]Periodic reports:
[41]Other FAQ lists:
[42]Where to go for more information:
[43]Credits:
[44]Personal note:
[45]DISCLAIMER:
[46]Copyright notice
======================= A. Frequently Asked Questions =======================
1. Where is the latest version of this FAQ list?
The latest HTML version of this FAQ list is at:
main:
[47]http://teapot.usask.ca/cdn-firearms/Faq/ctg.html
[48]ftp://teapot.usask.ca/pub/cdn-firearms/Faq/ctg.html
mirrors:
[49]http://yoda.sscl.uwo.ca/~eric/cfa/Faq/ctg.html
archives:
[50]http://www.cs.ruu.nl/wais/html/na-bng/can.talk.guns.html
[51]http://www.faqs.org/faqs/talk-politics-guns/canadian-faq/
The latest plain text version of this FAQ list is at:
main:
[52]http://teapot.usask.ca/cdn-firearms/Faq/ctg.txt
[53]ftp://teapot.usask.ca/pub/cdn-firearms/Faq/ctg.txt
mirrors:
[54]http://yoda.sscl.uwo.ca/~eric/cfa/Faq/ctg.txt
archives:
[55]ftp://ftp.uu.net/usenet/news.answers/talk-politics-guns/canadian-faq.Z
[56]ftp://rtfm.mit.edu/pub/usenet/news.answers/talk-politics-guns/canadian-
faq
[57]ftp://mirrors.aol.com/pub/rtfm/usenet/news.answers/talk-politics-guns/c
anadian-faq
You can also get the HTML version from the Canadian Firearms Home Page at:
[58]http://teapot.usask.ca/cdn-firearms/homepage.html
[59]http://yoda.sscl.uwo.ca/~eric/cfa/homepage.html
Just select ``Research Related to "Gun Control"'' and you'll see the "The
can.talk.guns FAQ list" link near the top.
2. What about the 1400 Canadians who are killed each year with guns?
That was only true for a couple of years, and it's only a partial truth.
Deaths with firearms from 1980 to 1990 can be broken down like this:
Suicides 80%
Homicides 15%
Accidents 5%
TOTAL 100%
However, over the last ten years:
gun used no gun used
-------- -----------
murder 33% 67%
suicide 30% 70%
accidents 1% 99%
Two-thirds of all Canadian homicides do not involve firearms[9].
Stabbings, strangulations and beatings account for the majority of
homicides[10].
The percentage of homicides involving firearms has varied from 45% to
29% over the years. Since 1926, firearms have been involved in about
37% of murders.
For example, causes of death in Canada in 1992:
Total Involving Firearms
----- ------------------
Suicides 3,709 1,050 28.31%
Homicides 732 247 33.7%
Accidents 8,801 63 0.72%
Deaths 196,535 1,360 0.69%
and from Selected Canadian Mortality Statistics 1994:
FOR ALL: Total Involving Firearms
----- ------------------
Suicides 3,749 975 26.0%
Homicides 596 196 32.9%
Accidents 38
TOTAL 1209
FOR WOMEN: Total Involving Firearms
----- ------------------
Suicides 780 59 7.6%
Homicides 199 39 20%
Accidents 3
TOTAL 101
FOR MEN: Total Involving Firearms
----- ------------------
Suicides 2,969 916 30.9%
Homicides 396 157 39.6%
Accidents 35
TOTAL 1108
Mortality 1991 - Statistics Canada - Summary List of Causes
Accidents, Suicide; Homicide (from Juristat)
-------------------------------------------------
Causes Number Percent
-------------------------------------------------
ALL CAUSES 195,568 100.00%
ACCIDENTS 8,212 4.20%
SUICIDE 3,593 1.84%
HOMICIDE 753 0.39%
ALL OTHER CAUSES 183,010 93.58%
ACCIDENTS 8,721 100.00%
Transport 3,882 44.51%
Falls 2,053 23.54%
Poisoning 699 8.02%
Drowning 390 4.47%
Inhaling Food 341 3.91%
Fire and Flames 318 3.65%
Medical Misadventures 146 1.67%
Other Firearms 62 0.71%
Electric Current 39 0.45%
Theraputic Drugs 33 0.38%
Explosives 22 0.25%
Lightning 5 0.06%
Handgun 4 0.05%
All other accidents 727 8.34%
SUICIDE 3,593 100.00%
Other Firearms 1,065 29.64%
Hanging, Strangulation 1,034 28.78%
Drugs 502 13.97%
Gas 393 10.94%
Other Solid or Liquid 46 1.28%
Handgun 43 1.20%
All Other Means 510 14.19%
HOMICIDE (Juristat) 753 100.00%
Stabbings 224 29.75%
Beatings 140 18.59%
Other Firearms 135 17.93%
Illegal Handguns 131 17.40%
Legal Handgun (Est.) 5 0.66%
All Other Means 118 15.67%
Note: There are numerous errors in the 1991 Mortality Tables, totals
that don't match the range they are supposed to cover, etc. I took the
figures for homicide from Juristat because they are better. The
mortality tables list about 200 fewer homicides than Juristat, and far
fewer handgun homicides.[Prof, H. Taylor Buckner]
It's also interesting to note that while 33% of homicides involve
firearms, over half of murders involve alcohol or illicit drugs.
Alcohol and drug use was evident in 50% of all homicides in 1991[14].
Historically, alcohol has been estimated as the most important
contributing factor in two of every three homicides in Canada[15].
Roughly half of Canada's murder _victims_ have serious criminal
records.[StatCan] In 1991, two-thirds of all accused murderers had
criminal records, of which 69% were prohibited from acquiring or
possessing firearms due to previous violent offences.[43]
Firearm homicides typically represent less than 2% of all
externally-caused deaths in Canada[11]. Since 1975, the homicide rate
for Canadian men has been twice as high as women's[12]. Lightning
killed more Canadians in 1987 than did legally-owned handguns [13].
Between 1961 and 1990, less than 1% of all homicides involved firearms
legally registered in Canada. [42]
[9] Juristat Service Bulletin Vol. 12 No.18, "Homicide in
Canada 1991" (Statistics Canada, Canadian Centre for Justice
Statistics, Oct 1992) p.2.
[10] Ibid, p.8
[11] Health Reports Vol. 1 No.1, "Mortality: Summary List of
Causes 1987", (Statistics Canada, Health Division, Oct. 1989), p.60.
[12] Juristat Service Bulletin Vol.12 No.21, op. cit., p.11.
[13] Health Reports Vol.1 No.1,"Causes of Death 1987", (Statistics
Canada, Health Division, Oct. 1989) pp, 176-178
[14] Juristat Service Bulletin Vol.12 NO.18, op. cit., p.15.
[15] Neil Boyd, "The Last Dance: Murder in Canada", (Prentice-Hall
Canada, 1988) pp. 156-157
[42] Number of Restricted Guns Used in Homicide Offences by Year,
(Statistics Canada, Can. Centre for Justice Statistics, Law
Enforcement Program), pp.1 to 8
[43] Juristat Service Bulletin Vol. 12 No. 18, Homicide in Canada
1991, (Statistics Canada, Can. Centre for Justice Statistics,
Oct. 1992), p. 15
3. But even if most of the deaths are suicides, won't gun control help?
While suicides account for the overwhelming majority of all gun-related
deaths in Canada (80% in 1987), over two-thirds of all suicides are
committed by methods other than firearms[19].
For "gun control" to prevent suicides, potential suicides would have to
be very fleeting impulses that would pass before a person could get a
key, put it into a lock, open the lock, load the firearm, and fire it.
Since roughly as many people hang/suffocate/strangle themselves, the
argument is absurd.
Many suicides are contemplated for weeks or months and there are many
methods that are just as "impulsive" and just as deadly, such as jumping
off buildings.
There are two main types of suicides: the ones who want to die and the
ones who "cry out for help". The former uses methods that offer little
in the way of a "second chance" (firearms, jumping off buildings) and
the latter group uses methods that take a long time (pills). Most
suicides follow months or years of depression or illness, unlocking a
gun takes at most a couple of minutes.
From the book Waking Up Alive by Richard A. Heckler 1994:
"Although there are no official statistics on attempted (ie
non-fatal actions) suicide, it is generally estimated that there are
at least 8 to 20 attempts for each death by suicide."
While roughly 30% of suicides involve a firearm, the "success" rate
approaches 100% when a firearm is involved. If, on the other hand, the
other 70% of suicides actually have 8 to 20 attempts for every death,
then only 2 to 5% of suicide attempts involve a firearm. This is
especially interesting when you consider that 1 in four Canadian homes
has an average of 3 firearms. Wouldn't it be more prudent to expend our
resources trying to help the 20 to 50 thousand persons attempting
suicide every year than on trying to control a method employed in a
minority of suicides?
Canada has very strict firearm regulation yet it also has a higher
suicide rate than the US. (Japan has nearly no legally owned firearms
and their suicide rate is higher than Canada's.) [The Samurai, the
Mountie and the Cowboy; [60]Observations on a One-Way Street]
Until 1960, Canada's suicide rate was fairly stable at about 7 per
100,000. Between 1960 and 1980 the suicide rate roughly doubled and has
remained high around 14 per 100,000 persons. The suicide rate for males
aged 20 to 24 roughly tripled between 1960 and 1980. [StatCan]
Studies indicate that the suicide rate in Canada increased after Bill
C-51 was adopted[20]. Alcohol abuse is estimated to be a significant
contributing factor in 50% of all firearms `accidents' and
suicides[22].
Recently, the suicide rate in Canada has been dropping, as it has been
in many other countries, including the US. However, suicide by _all_
methods has decreased, and our rate is still higher than other
industrial nations with less restrictive firearm laws, such as the US.
Even the Canadian government finds it difficult to claim that Canada's
suicide rate has been reduced by our anti-firearm laws. [ED-1996-1e]
[19] Health Reports Vol.1 No.1 "Causes of Death 1987" (Statistics
Canada, Health Division, Oct. 1989), pp. 184-186
[20] Robert J. Mundt, op cit.; and, David B. Kopel, op. cit.
[22] National Safety Council, "Accident Facts 1988-1991".
4. Wouldn't it help to at least ban handguns?
Handguns have been required to be registered since 1934 (unlike most
rifles and shotguns), yet their use has been increasing (even though the
less regulated and more deadly rifles and shotguns are easier to
procure). From the 1960s to now, the use of handguns in homicide has
roughly doubled (from 10% of homicides to 18%). [StatCan] Shotgun and
rifle use has actually dropped. If registration works, why are
criminals moving from firearms that need not be registered to ones that
must? If we ban pistols to prevent use in crime, the effect will only
be to confiscate over half a billion dollars in property from those who
legally possess roughly 1,000,000 registered pistols.
More control seems to be increasing use, one reason could be that the
now-existing smuggling infrastructure (thanks to high cigarette and
alcohol taxes) makes it trivial to "import" pistols. [Misfire: The
Black Market and Gun Control, The Mackenzie Institute, 1995] The strict
anti-gun laws make smuggling profitable.
Project Cannon and Operation Gunrunner in 1994 both found that about 90%
of pistols recovered and/or purchased "from the street" were
unregistered and could not be traced in Canada. [from the
project/operation reports]
A good reference for US vs. Canada is Brandon S. Centerwall, "Homicide
and the prevalence of handguns: Canada and the United States, 1976 to
1980," _American Journal of Epidemiology_, 134 (11), pp 1245-60, Dec 1,
1991.
Abstract: As compared with Americans, Canadians in the 1970s
possessed one tenth as many handguns per capita. To assess whether
this affected the total criminal homicide rate, the mean annual
criminal homicide rates of Canadian provinces were compared with
those of adjoining US states for the period of 1976 to 1980. NO
CONSISTENT DIFFERENCES WERE OBSERVED; CRIMINAL HOMICIDE RATES WERE
SOMETIMES HIGHER IN THE CANADIAN PROVINCE, and sometimes higher in
the adjoining US state. MAJOR DIFFERENCES IN THE PREVALENCE OF
HANDGUNS HAVE NOT RESULTED IN DIFFERING TOTAL CRIMINAL HOMICIDE
RATES IN CANADIAN PROVINCES AND ADJOINING US STATES. The similar
rates of criminal homicide are primarily attributable to underlying
similar rates of aggravated assault. (emphasis added)
5. What about "military-style assault weapons"?
What is an assault weapon? Assault _rifles_ are selective-fire (semi-
or full-auto) weapons that are often smaller calibre. Assault rifles
have been prohibited since 1978 (except for about 4500 Canadians who
owned at least one before 1978). No registered automatic (i.e. machine
gun) has ever been used in Canada in any violent crime or suicide.
Banning the semi-automatic rifles too-often called "assault weapons"
makes little sense, since the semi-auto rifles that remain legal for
hunting and other purposes are usually more powerful. (It takes more to
knock down a moose than a human.)
As for "military-style" or "paramilitary" firearms versus "domestic" or
"hunting" rifles: the distinction is useless. There are rifles used
for hunting and sport that were/are of military origin and there are
firearms that are/were used by the military that began as "hunting"
rifles. The designs are similar and basic. The goal of each is the
same: force a piece of lead out at high speeds. Both "military" and
"hunting" rifles are available in semi-automatic. (e.g. The "civilian"
Colt AR-15 is actually the predecessor of the military version: the
M-16. In spite of this, it is usually classed by the media as a
"military- style" weapon.)
Semi-automatics patterned after state-of-the-art firearms technology
used by the military and popular with millions of responsible gun owners
offer increased reliability and durability.
It makes little sense to ban rifles because of their appearance while
ignoring performance and function. There is more about this in the
[61]coroner's report on the murder of 14 persons at L'Ecole Polytechnique.
Semiautomatics which externally resemble automatics are difficult to
convert to automatic and such a conversion is illegal and subject to a
ten-year jail term. There is no evidence that semiautomatic firearms
are disproportionately used in crime. Through 1988-1991, 20% of all
firearms homicides involved prohibited weapons, 60% involved ordinary
hunting rifles and shotguns, and 20% involved handguns[30].
Semiautomatics targeted by anti-gun legislation could affect more than
30% of the guns legally owned by Canadians. The cost of replacing these
firearms could cost Canadian taxpayers in excess of $2,000,000,000.
[30] Juristat Service Bulletin Vol. 11 No. 12 op. cit., p. 13
6. Don't we have to do something about violence against women?
Bare hands and feet are most often used to murder Canadian women.
More women (44.0%) are strangled or beaten to death than are murdered by
any other single method. Knives and other sharp instruments are the
next favourite weapon as stabbings accounted for 27.7% of female
homicides. Firearms are third: 25.6% of Canadian women were murdered by
someone using a gun. [StatCan, 1984 to 1993] In 1994, 45.7% of female
homicide victims were strangled or beaten to death, 22.6% were stabbed,
and 19.6% were shot. [StatCan]
We also have to do something about violence against people. Men are
more than twice as likely to be murdered (with or without a firearm),
nearly 10 times more likely to complete suicide with a firearm and over
15 times more likely to die in an accident involving a firearm. (But I
digress.)
"Crimes of passion" are almost always preceded by a long history of
domestic turmoil (in 1991, 44% of all domestic murders in Canada had a
previous record of violent conflict), committed between the hours of
10:00pm and 2:00 a.m. with any object close at hand and by persons under
the influence of drugs or alcohol. In 1991, 60% of all domestic
homicides in Canada involved weapons other than firearms, with alcohol
and drug abuse a relevant factor in 64%[23]. Between 1974 and 1987, the
use of firearms in domestic homicide fluctuated with Bill C-51 having
had no apparent effect[24]. Studies on firearms acquisition 'waiting
periods' have found them to be totally useless in curbing either violent
crime or domestic violence[25].
What follows is an excerpt from a speech made by Senator Anne Cools on
29 Nov 1995. (The complete version of the following can be found from
the Canadian Firearms Home Page and from:
[62]http://fox.nstn.ca/~dvc14/awsc.html)
During the Senate committee hearings on Bill C-68, the Manitoba
Attorney General, the Honourable Rosemary Vodrey, testified. I asked
her:
I should just like to know how many wives were killed by husbands in
your province last year by firearms, and how many children in your
province alone?
She replied:
I can just tell you women on homicides by firearms. I gather the
figure is zero.
Ms Vodrey gave more detail. She said:
The statistics I have are for 1994, and they relate to deaths due to
domestic violence: Three by stabbing; three by strangulation; two by
beating; one by asphyxiation; none by firearms.
Honourable senators, it is no simple task to identify the actual and
precise number of women killed by spouses using firearms. I have
studied this question using Statistics Canada's published data on
homicides. In 1994, the actual number of women killed with firearms
by conjugal intimates was 23. I repeat: The precise number of women
killed by spouses using firearms was 23.
Statistics Canada defines "conjugal intimates" as including spouses
- legal, common-law, separated, divorced - boyfriends, extramarital
lovers or estranged lovers. Neither feminist groups nor the Minister
of Justice have placed the number of 23 on the table in this debate.
I am unsympathetic to the act of toying with or exaggerating the
true numbers.
Please be clear that Minister Vodrey's answer that no woman in her
province had been killed by the use of a firearm in a
conjugal-intimate relationship in 1994 surprised the committee.
In 1994, the actual number of children under the age of 12 years
killed with firearms by a parent was two. The favoured weapon of
murder in Canada is bare hands and feet - the human body. For
example, in 1994, 27 babies under 12 months of age were killed, most
with bare hands. In 1994, the total number of homicides was 596, of
which 196 were by the use of firearms. Of these 196 with firearms,
157 of the victims were men and 39 were women. Consistently, more
men are killed with firearms than women; in fact, four times as
many. The tragedy of domestic homicide is too horrific to be
trivialized by numerical manipulation.
Here's a breakdown of causes of death for men and women [1994]:
14757287 14494078 29251285 Population
women men total Cause of Death
38688 39885 78573 Circulatory system diseases
26815 31496 58311 All Cancer
8255 10087 18342 Respiratory system diseases
3767 3912 7679 Digestive system diseases
4995 Breast Cancer
2710 1963 4673 Mental disorders
780 2969 3749 Suicide, all methods
985 2478 3463 Drug/Alcohol Abuse [note 1]
949 2238 3188 Motor vehicle collisions
721 2053 2774 Suicide, non-firearm
1292 1055 2347 Falls
139 1489 1628 HIV
59 916 975 Suicide, with firearm
235 629 868 Accidental poisoning
222 507 729 Drowning/suffocation/choking
199 396 596 Homicide, all methods
160 239 400 Homicide, non-firearm
115 130 246 Homicide, no gun; no knife
102 110 212 Surgical/medical misadventures
39 157 196 Homicide, with firearm
45 109 154 Homicide, with cutting/piercing instrument
3 35 38 Fatal Gun Accidents
101 1108 1209 Total deaths involving firearms
[Causes of Death 1994 (Ministry of Industry, Science and Technology,
Statistics Canada, Health Statistics Division, June 1996); and, Homicide
Survey, Table 13; Distribution of Homicide Victims by Gender and Method
Used to Commit Homicide (Ministry of Industry, Science and Technology,
Statistics Canada, Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics, Aug. 1994)]
[note 1 - This figure excludes deaths from cancer, circulatory/
respiratory diseases, motor vehicle collisions, falls, fires, drowning,
suicide and homicide that are indirectly due to drug/alcohol abuse.
In 1994, an esimated 17,228 deaths, one every 32 min., were alcohol-
related (Single, Eric. Canadian Profile: Alcohol, Tobacco & Other Drugs
1994. Ottawa ON; Canadian Centre for Substance Abuse, 1994, p.79)]
[23] Juristat Service Bulletin, Vol.12 No. 18, op. cit. pp 13-14;
and, Peter H. Rossi and James D. Wright, op. cit.
[24] Juristat Service Bulletin, Vol. 9 No. 1, (Statistics Canada,
Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics, 1989); and
Robert J. Mundt, op. cit.
[25] James D. Wright and Peter H. Rossi, op. cit., and Joseph
P. Magadino and Marshal H. Medoff, op. cit.
7. Does gun control work?
The answer depends upon what you mean by "gun control" and "work". You
can "control" access for many people to some degree, but you can't stop
it altogether for everyone.
If, by "gun control", you mean attempting to keep firearms out of
criminal hands (through background checks) and educating users (so
accident rates can be reduced and kept low), then it would be hard to
find someone to disagree with you. If, however, you think that
prohibitions, confiscations and other such limits on law-abiding
Canadians are necessary, then I suggest that is rather like taking
equipment away from Jill and Jack -- and even banning hockey altogether
-- because Paul hit Jane with a stick. The result is that those not
hurting anybody are the ones punished.
We've had increasing "gun control" in Canada since the late 1800s --
most of it from 1978 to the present -- and only since 1974 have the
murder rates been this high. Before 1968, when nearly any law-abiding
person could legally purchase almost anything, our murder rates were
roughly _half_ what they have been since 1974: a 20+ year period of the
toughest "gun control" we've ever had.
Comparing two twenty-year periods, one where one could legally own
almost anything, and one with "strict laws": from 1974 to 1993 the
Canadian homicide rate was roughly 2.4 murders per 100,000 persons and
from 1946 to 1965 it was about 1.1 per 100,000. [Dominion Bureau of
Statistics and Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics]
In the 22 years from 1973 to 1994, the rate was never below 2, and in
the 42 years before 1973, the Canadian homicide rate was never above 2
(murders per 100,000 persons). [Dominion Bureau of Statistics and
Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics]
A sharp increase occurred from 1966 and 1974. The homicide rate nearly
tripled in this 9 year period. Some like to say that the 1978 anti-gun
laws (Bill C-51) caused the drop, but their reasoning is faulty since
the decrease started three or four years earlier. Also, a similar
decrease and "levelling-off" of homicides rates occurred in the US
around the same time. Several researchers, including Alan Gilmour (1993
report of the Auditor General) have noted that there is no statistical
evidence to support the claim that homicide rates in Canada decreased
"as a result of stricter gun control laws". Even the federal
government's own evaluations (ED-1996-1e) were mostly inconclusive.
Late in 1996, the Canadian Department of Justice released an "evaluation
document" [ED-1996-1e] claiming that 55 lives are saved every year in
Canada by "gun control". The document is based on a roughly 2,000 page
report by Prairie Research Associates (PRA), of which only 9 pages were
released under the Access to Information (AtI) Act. After many protests,
about 1000 pages have been received over many months by Reform MP Garry
Breitkreuz, but much of the text is blacked out. Amongst the "clear
text" were some gems (below).
The crime statistics PRA needed to do the work were acquired from
Statistics Canada, via the Canada Centre for Justice Statistics, the
office that handles Justice statistics. There are two sets of
information, databases called UCRI and UCRII. In his 08 Aug 95 Memorandum
to Nick Falcon, Clinton Skibitzky has this to say about those primary --
and apparently the only -- databases that PRA had to use as the raw data
input base for its report:
"Although the UCRI database contains a full range of information on
the number of offences reported to police, all the data is submitted
'as aggregate totals [submitted] on a monthly basis by each
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