| PUBLICATION:
National Post DATE: 2005.10.11 EDITION: National SECTION: Issues & Ideas PAGE: A19 COLUMN: Lorne Gunter BYLINE: Lorne Gunter SOURCE: National PostSTATISTICS WORD COUNT: 765 NOTE: lgunter@telus.net -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- More proof that Ottawa's gun registry is useless -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- There were 622 homicides in Canada last year, a sharp rise of 12% from 2003, according to Statistics Canada. Yet as tragic as each of those murders was, 622 is still, thankfully, a small number. There are several U.S. cities with as many murders each year as all of Canada, or nearly so. Chicago and Los Angeles record around 600 annually; so does New York (down from about 2,200 as recently as 1990). Canada has probably reached the theoretical floor for murders. Expect the number each year to fluctuate slightly above or below 600. Yearly spikes upward from that number (as we witnessed in 2004) or drops will be largely meaningless for divining any long-term trend. Given the rise in the illegal drug trade, the continued inflow of newcomers from nations where violence is common, the rapid growth in the aboriginal population, more gang activity, the rise in criminal sentences involving no jail time (fewer than one-quarter of Canadian criminals ever see the inside of a cell) and other factors that contribute to crime, we are unlikely to see much of a significant, sustained decline in our present murder rate of just under two homicides for every 100,000 population. But the good news is, that is already a very low rate. Colombia's rate per 100,000 population is 63, South Africa's 51, Jamaica's and Venezuela's 32, Brazil's 23. Russia's 19 and Mexico's 13. At 8.8, the U.S. rate is not that high by international standards, even though it is four times our own. According to Statistics Canada's 2004 homicide report, released last week, 68% of adults accused of murder last year already had a criminal record, and 70% of those had convictions for violent offences. Half of all murders occurred during the commission of another crime, notably assault (106), robbery (45), rape (8), stalking (5) and kidnapping (3). Another 81 victims died "as a result of their involvement in ... drug trafficking and gang violence." Almost three-quarters of murderers and more than half of their victims had been drinking or taking illegal drugs at the time of their crime. According to the report, "among solved homicides in 2004, 85% of victims knew their killer. Half (50%) were killed by an acquaintance, another one-third (35%) were killed by a family member and 15% of victims were killed by strangers." The report also notes that "while aboriginal people account for approximately 3% of the Canadian population, they comprised 17% of victims and 22% of persons accused of committing homicide in 2004." Don't know anyone with a criminal record for assault, rape, attempted murder, spousal abuse or robbery with a weapon? Don't know a gang member or drug dealer who is drunk or high? Aren't aboriginal? Then you are at very low risk of being murdered in Canada. We are just not a murderous people. Never have been. Still aren't. Here are two other significant facts: Firearms homicides are up 13% in the past two years and 65% of firearms homicides are committed with handguns. Both stats -- but especially the one for handguns -- prove the Liberals expensive, intrusive, Byzantine gun registry has been totally useless. The government and gun-control advocates love to cite the fact that the registry has denied or removed gun-ownership licences from a few thousand of Canada's 1.9 million registered gun owners. They love to repeat the continued endorsement for the registry of police chiefs, too. But despite the licence denials and chiefs' support, the registry has had no effect on crime, especially murder, even with its $2-billion price tag. Ottawa has been registering all handguns in the country (or at least all the legal ones) since 1934. And it has been attempting to control Canadians' hunting rifles and shotguns in earnest since 1991 thanks to the Mulroney Tories. It escalated both efforts under the Liberals after 1995. Since 1991, the portion of murders committed with handguns has more than doubled from 32% to 65%. But if registration had any impact on crime, we would see it first and foremost with handguns, since they have been subject to mandatory registration for 71 years. Instead, the exact opposite has occurred. As the feds have sought to make the rules for hunting rifles and shotguns as tight as they have been for handguns for seven decades, murderers have simply switched to pistols and revolvers from long guns because the former are easier to conceal and thus easier to smuggle into the country. Gun controls don't control illegal guns -- the ones most likely to be used in crimes. As such, they are useless, no matter how much their supporters believe in them or how much Ottawa spends. ------------------------------------------------- IMPORTANT FACTS FROM
THE HOMICIDE IN CANADA 2004 REPORT WHAT THE LIBERALS CAN’T
OR WON’T TELL YOU ABOUT THEIR $2 BILLION FIREARMS PROGRAM JUNE 15, 2005 - RCMP:
NO INFORMATION ON WHY 70-YEARS OF REGISTERING HANDGUNS HASN’T WORKED
WEAPONS USED IN CRIME
IN 2003 FRASER
FORUM: Are Guns Really More Dangerous than Other Weapons? |