Most gun-related deaths in Canada are caused by illegally obtained firearms: report

by Anthony Murdoch

Statistics Canada data appears to counter the Trudeau government’s ongoing narrative that legal gun owners should be stripped of their rights.

(LifeSiteNews) — While the Canadian federal government under Prime Minister Justin Trudeau cracks down on legal gun owners, Statistics Canada data shows that most violent gun crimes in the country last year were not committed at the hands of legal gun owners but by those who obtained the weapons illegally.

In its annual publication titled “Firearms and Violent Crime in Canada, 2022” published last Tuesday, Statistics Canada data counters the Trudeau government’s ongoing narrative that guns are bad and thus legal gun owners should be stripped of their rights.

The report goes over various aspects of Canada’s justice system regarding crime statistics, with the findings notably stating that most legal gun owners are responsible with their weapons, making a clear distinction between legal guns and those that are illicit.

“The firearms used in homicides were rarely legal firearms used by their legal owners who were in good standing,” the Statistics Canada report states.

In 2022, of 113 homicides involving guns, incidents that involved legal gun owners accounted for 24 deaths.

When looking at illegally obtained or illegally owned guns at the time of the incident, most murders came from illegal firearms.

The report also noted that in most gun-related murders those accused of the crime did not have a valid firearms license. In only 13 percent, or 16 of 119 homicides involving handguns, did the accused have a gun license, with that number falling to 12 percent, or seven of 59 murders involving shotguns or rifles.

The Canadian government’s controversial gun grab Bill C-21, which bans many types of guns, including handguns, and mandates a buyback program became law on December 14, 2023, after Senators voted 60- 24 in favor of the bill.

In May 2023, Bill C-21 passed in the House of Commons. After initially denying the bill would impact hunters, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau eventually admitted that C-21 would indeed ban certain types of hunting rifles.