NEWS RELEASE

October 10, 2002                                                                                                          For Immediate Release

HANDGUNS WERE USED IN 64% OF FIREARMS HOMICIDES – 74% WEREN’T REGISTERED HOW CAN THIS BE?  THE RCMP HAVE BEEN REGISTERING HANDGUNS SINCE 1934

Ottawa – The homicide statistics for 2001 have just been published by Statistics Canada and once again they prove the absolute futility of registering guns as a policy for reducing the number of murders – especially firearms homicides.  “Every year the statistics prove the same thing and every year the Liberals just bury their heads a little deeper in the sand,” said Garry Breitkreuz, the Official Opposition’s critic for firearms and property rights.  “This year’s statistics are particularly revealing and must even be hard for the Justice Minister to ignore.”

Here are a few of the more revealing facts from the Statistics Canada report, Homicide in Canada, 2001:

1. Of the 554 homicides in Canada in 2001, 31% were stabbed to death, 31% were shot to death and 22% were beaten to death (See Chart on Page 9).  “Trying to register all the firearms in Canada doesn’t make any more sense than trying to register all the knives and baseball bats,” said Breitkreuz.

2. Of the 171 firearms homicides in 2001, 64% were committed with handguns that the RCMP have been registering for the last 68 years, 6% were committed with firearms that are completely prohibited, and 27% were committed with a rifle or shotgun (Page 9).  

3. Since 1991, handgun use in homicides has steadily increased from 49.8% to 64.3% in 2001.  Over the same period homicides committed with rifles and shotguns has steadily decreased from 38% to 26.9% (Table 7 on Page 9). “The Criminal Code has required the mandatory registration of handguns since 1934 and registration of rifles and shotguns doesn’t become mandatory until January 1, 2003.  Why can’t Liberal MPs see what’s wrong with this picture?” asked Breitkreuz.

4. Between 1997 and 2001, 74% of the handguns recovered from the scenes of 143 homicides were not registered (Page 10) – “Liberal MPs must ask themselves two questions (1) Why were so many handguns not registered after 68 years of trying to register them, and (2) Why didn’t laying a piece of paper (a registration certificate) beside these handguns prevent 37 (26%) of these murders?  Based on this statistic alone it defies all logic why the Liberals continue to spend hundreds of millions of taxpayers’ dollars trying to register 16 million rifles and shotguns,” stated Breitkreuz.

The 2001 Homicide Report exposed more interesting facts:

• 65% of persons accused of homicide had a Canadian criminal record, and 58% of these had previously been convicted of violent crimes (Page 15).

• 51% of homicide victims also had a criminal record – 54% of them had previously been convicted of a violent crime (Page 15). 

• 75% of accused persons and 56% of all homicide victims had consumed alcohol and/or drugs at the time of the murder (Page 15).

• Between 1998 and 2001, the average of gang-related homicides increased to 10.5% of all homicides (Page 7).

• While Aboriginal people account for approximately 3% of the population, they comprised 25% of all persons accused of committing homicide and 15% of all homicide victims.

• 14% of persons accused of murder were reported to have a psychological disorder.

“Once again, Statistics Canada has proven that the Liberals are way off target by forcing completely innocent people to register their firearms.  The real targets are known criminals, gangsters or the mentally disturbed – not farmers, hunters, target shooters and collectors!” concluded Breitkreuz.

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