Murders Rarely Committed by Legal Firearm Owners: Statistics Canada

Published on February 3, 2024

While the rate of homicides involving a firearm has increased in Canada, those crimes are not usually committed by people who have a licence for the weapon, according to a Statistics Canada report. “The firearms used in homicides were rarely legal firearms used by their legal owners who were in good standing,” said the report, titled Firearms and Violent Crime in Canada 2022. Looking at data from 2022, the report found that around half of the firearm-related murders were carried out by those who had obtained the gun legally (58 out of 113 homicides). “In most firearm-related homicides, the accused did not have a valid firearm licence for the class of firearm used” the report said....