NEWS RELEASE
February 26, 2008	For Immediate Release

Statistics Canada study confirms firearms and violent crime not linked

Ottawa – Saskatchewan M.P. Garry Breitkreuz says a new Statistics Canada study proves that hunters and sport shooters have nothing in common with violent criminals. Breitkreuz started his fight against useless gun control laws in 1994 and part of that fight has been to relentlessly expose the truth about the relationship between violent crime and guns.

Last Wednesday, Statistics Canada released its study for 2006 entitled: Firearms and Violent Crime (see link below). It reported that firearms were used in only 2.4 percent of all violent crime in Canada in 2006. It also reported that handguns (that are supposed to have been registered since 1934) made up nearly two-thirds of all firearms used. CanWest news summarized the Statistics Canada report this way: “In 2006, three-quarters of all violent crime victims were attacked by people without any weapons at all. Knives, clubs and other blunt instruments were used against 9.2 per cent of victims, while guns were used against only 2.4 percent. Knives were used to commit more murders, robberies, sexual assaults and assaults than guns.”

“In December 2006, I released unpublished Statistics Canada tables showing that of the total homicides committed between 1997 and 2005, only 2.27 percent were committed with a registered gun,” explains Breitkreuz. “Only 1.21 percent were committed with a firearm registered to the accused murderer, and 2.14 percent were committed by a person that held a valid firearms licence (see link below). Obviously, law-abiding gun owners aren’t the problem and yet the Government of Ontario and the City of Toronto want to ban the handguns owned by honest citizens.

“Why is there a Liberal, NDP and Bloc preoccupation with guns owned by citizens that aren’t the problem?” asks Breitkreuz. “Remember that 102 of 108 handgun homicides (94 per cent) in 2006 were committed with unregistered handguns or the registration status was unknown. We need mandatory minimum sentences for using weapons in violent crimes. Knife and club attacks occur at a rate almost four times higher than guns.

“That’s why the federal government introduced Bill C-2, our Tackling Violent Crime Act,” he adds. “Statistics Canada tables also show that knives and clubs result in more injuries than guns (see link below). This study makes it obvious that we need all governments to focus on the real problem of violent crime and especially target those criminals that use any type of weapon in the commission of an offence.”

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Statistics Canada Study: Firearms and violent crime 2006
http://www.statcan.ca/Daily/English/080220/d080220b.htm

December 7, 2006 - 5,194 homicides 9 years: Only 2.27% of guns were registered
http://www.cssa-cila.org/garryb/breitkreuzgpress/2006/dec7.htm

March 3, 2005 – Liberals’ total focus on guns is misguided
http://www.cssa-cila.org/garryb/breitkreuzgpress/guns136.htm