For almost 30 years, the Coalition for Gun Control has been working to make Canada safer and is supported by more than 200 health, crime prevention, victims, policing, women’s and community organizations from across Canada. We have made progress but much more needs to be done.
February 16, 2021: The Government of Canada announced voluntary assault-rifle buyback program and a municipal handgun ban.
THE HUMAN COST OF GUNS
While Canada has a much lower rate of firearm death and injury than the USA, it has a much higher rate than the UK, Australia and Japan. We are fourth in the rate of firearm death among 22 industrialized OECD countries.
And there have been troubling trends in recent years: From 2013 to 2016, criminal incidents involving firearms were up 30%, gun homicides increased 60% and intimate partner and gender-based violence involving the use of a firearm was also up by one-third. And after decades of decline, rates of firearm suicides have increased year over year since 2012. We need to address the root causes of violence. We need strong responses from health care and justice systems. But we also need to reduce the chances that dangerous, hate filled people will get access to guns.
WE NEED ACTION
Everyone knows about how the NRA has hijacked the agenda and the nation-wide conversation about gun control in the United States. But few know how influential the Canadian gun lobby has been. The Canadian gun lobby is organized, well-funded and has ties to the NRA. Canada is one of only a few nations in the world to have moved backwards with our gun reform. Few Canadians know that the AR 15, a military weapon used in many mass shootings, is sold to civilians in Canada. Many Canadians think handguns are virtually banned – there are now almost one million legally owned handguns in Canada. We have seen a staggering rise in gun violence and shooting deaths in the last five years. And for the first time in decades half of the crime guns that have been traced have been traced to Canadian owners.
It’s easy to feel disconnected from gun violence when you are not directly affected. That’s why we’ve created Dodge the Bullet, a web-app using geo-location and police data, that calculates the distance between your location and a past shooting.
TRIGGER CHANGE. BAN HANDGUNS AND MILITARY ASSAULT WEAPONS IN CANADA
WE NEED ACTION
Everyone knows about how the NRA has hijacked the agenda and the nation-wide conversation about gun control in the United States. But few know how influential the Canadian gun lobby has been. The Canadian gun lobby is organized, well-funded and has ties to the NRA. Canada is one of only a few nations in the world to have moved backwards with our gun reform. Few Canadians know that the AR 15, a military weapon used in many mass shootings, is sold to civilians in Canada. Many Canadians think handguns are virtually banned – there are now almost one million legally owned handguns in Canada. We have seen a staggering rise in gun violence and shooting deaths in the last five years. And for the first time in decades half of the crime guns that have been traced have been traced to Canadian owners.
TRIGGER CHANGE. BAN HANDGUNS AND MILITARY ASSAULT WEAPONS IN CANADA
The federal government is currently conducting a national consultation on banning handguns and military assault weapons. We have a small window of opportunity.
Both the cities of Toronto and Montreal have passed resolutions calling for a national ban on handguns and military assault weapons. But support for a ban is also strong in rural areas and among many gun owners – these guns are not used for hunting.
MOST CANADIANS WANT STRONGER GUN CONTROL
67
of Canadians want a ban on handguns.
88
support stricter licensing requirements and background checks.
8
Canadians support a national database for tracking gun sales.
83
Support banning personal possession of military assault weapons by civilians.