Below are some key messages that I have recently received from the Canadian Association of Police Board (CAPB). The messages have been developed by the CACP committee that is working to stop passage of Bill C-391 that would end the registration of long guns in Canada.
The information compiled by CACP is very noteworthy and should be used at every opportunity to respond to media, politicians or the public on why it is important to support the registration of long guns in Canada.
For the first time in Canada, we have a level of awareness of differences occurring across the country with respect to front line policing of incidents relating to firearms. We can now demonstrate evidence about the everyday seriousness of firearms in policing and to community safety all across Canada (assaults, violence). This evidence adds the context of rural firearms crime into this issue, instead of firearms being perceived solely as urban guns and gang crime. Finally, we can show the need for firearm controls in the rural areas just as they exist in urban areas due to the significant levels of firearm incidents occurring in rural and small urban areas across Canada.
- Canada’s bigger cities- Toronto, Vancouver, Montreal, Edmonton, Winnipeg- contrary to public belief- do not have the highest rates of firearms incidents in Canada. Rural and small urban centres, especially those in the West, have higher rates, sometimes significantly higher, than the large urban centres. The purpose of firearms licensing in combination with registration is to improve community safety and reduce the misuse of firearms across Canada. Clearly this is a discussion that is needed between police and their local communities.
- The overall seriousness of firearms incidents is of great concern for both community and police officer safety as reported by Canada’s rural and small urban policing provider- the RCMP. At least 74% of police-reported firearm incidents in rural and smaller urban areas are related to serious violations such as assaults, violence, threats, and unsafe storage, for example.
- Licensing and registration (firearm controls) are fully supported for handgun crimes occurring in urban areas. The same controls need to be applied for rural areas, where clearly, it is demonstrated that the misuse of primarily long guns is also a significant issue.
- There are thousands of court cases across Canada, and growing every year, that are dependent upon the firearms registry for firearms registration information (4000 requests made for affidavits). Approximately 56% of these cases involve the determination of ownership of a long gun.
- Since 2008, of the 55,000 long guns in police custody for public safety reasons, 46% were able to be traced back to their owner because of the existence of the long gun registry.
- Provinces with the highest number of firearms incidents and persons with prohibition orders are also showing that they refuse fewer license applications and revoke fewer licenses.
- Being able to trace a firearm back to its owner is important. Almost 1/5 of all long guns have been transferred 3 or more times. (859,433/6,510,000)
- Being able to trace a firearm back to its owner is important especially due to unsafe storage and thefts of large numbers of firearms. 129,481 individuals (non-collectors) in Canada legally possess 10 or more firearms; 10,872 individuals in Canada legally possess 30 or more firearms.
