FIREARMS FACTS UPDATE

STATISTICS CANADA HOMICIDE 2003 REPORT

PROVES TWO-BILLION DOLLAR GUN REGISTRY IS

AIMED AT THE WRONG TARGET

THE RIGHT TARGET

·        69% of adults accused of homicide in 2003 had a Canadian criminal record and two thirds of these had a prior conviction for a violent offence: 5 for homicide. (Page 10)

·        52% of adult homicide victims in 2003 had a Canadian criminal record and half of these had a prior violent conviction: 8 for homicide. (Page 10)

BREITKREUZ’S COMMENTS

1. 70% of the murders are committed by criminals but who do the Liberals track and harass - Millions of completely innocent gun owners! 

2.  The real target for the Liberal’s gun laws should be real police priorities:

- 131,000 convicted criminals that are prohibited from owning firearms;

- 36,000 persons with restraining orders against them;

- 200,000 persons with outstanding Criminal arrest warrants

- 850 parolees that fail to report on any given day;

3. Unbelievably, the Liberal government says that tracking the criminals prohibited from owning firearms is not necessary to manage the firearms program.  Consequently, these convicted criminals are protected by the Privacy Act. 

4. Two million law-abiding, licenced firearms owners are required by the Firearms Act to report their change of address within 30 days or face up to two years in jail.  But thousands of proven-to-be-dangerous persons are free to roam Canada without telling the police where they live.  This is ludicrous.

REGISTRATION OF GUNS AND LICENCING GUN OWNERS DOES NOT PREVENT MURDER

·        59% of the 548 victims murdered were stabbed, beaten or strangled. (Page 7)

·        29%(161) of the 548 murders in 2003 were committed with a firearm. (Page 8)

·        109 (68%) of the 161 firearms homicides were committed with handguns – that the government has been registering since 1934. (Page 8)

·        Between 1997 and 2003 in Canada, the registration status was known for 46% of firearm-related homicides.  Of these, 86% were not registered and 80% of the accused persons did not possess a valid FAC or Firearms Licence. (Page 8)

BREITKREUZ’S COMMENTS

1. The Liberals knew the 70-year-old handgun registry had never helped the RCMP solve or prevent one murder, but they went ahead and decided to waste upwards of two billion dollars and there’s no end of the waste in sight yet.

2. The waste of tax dollars is scandalous but the sad fact now is that scarce police resources are being diverted from the pursuit of violent criminals to chasing gun owners that have failed to do their Liberal paperwork.  These Made-in-Ottawa paper criminals are absolutely no threat to public safety but the Liberals have sent the police after them anyways.

3. Just think how many lives could have been saved if we had spent these two billion dollars targeting the real causes of violence in our society or simply by targeting the criminals?

MOST ACCUSED MURDERERS WERE INTOXICATED

·        Police reported that 71% of accused murderers were under the influence of alcohol, drugs or other intoxicants at the time of the homicide as were 61% of the victims. (Page 11)

ONE IN TEN ACCUSED MURDERERS MENTALLY ILL

·        Police suspected the presence of a mental or developmental disorder among 10% of the accused persons in 2003. (Page 11)

MOTIVATION FOR MURDER

·        34% of homicides were incited by an argument or quarrel in 2003. (Page 11)

·        30% of homicides were associated with feelings of frustration, despair, revenge and/or jealousy. 

·        25% of homicides were motivated by financial gain or settling of accounts

·        Six murders were considered to be random. 

·        No homicides in 2003 were motivated by hatred or political terrorism.

HALF OF ALL HOMICIDES OCCURRED DURING COMMISSION OF ANOTHER OFFENCE

·        49% of the homicide incidents in 2003 occurred during the commission of another offence that led to the homicide.  Of these 199 murders, the majority (148) were committed at the same time as another violent offence: 71 during an assault, 40 during a robbery, 7 during a sexual assault, 6 during a kidnapping, 4 as a result of a stalking, and 20 during other violent offences.

·        Eight homicide incidents happened as a result of arson, 12 occurred as a result of a break and enter, theft, and 31 resulted from other types of criminal offences.

YOUTH HOMICIDES ON THE RISE

·        In 2003, there were 57 youth (12 to 17 years) accused of homicide, 15 more than in 2002.  This is the second consecutive annual increase since the low reached in 2001 and higher than the previous 10-year average of 49. 

·        Youth represented about 11% of all those accused of homicide. (Page 10)

ABORIGINALS ACCOUNT FOR 19% OF ACCUSED MURDERERS

·        Based on cases where Aboriginal origin was known, Aboriginal people accounted for 19% of those accused of homicide and 15% of the victims. (Page 9)

·        Aboriginals, make up 3% of the Canadian population.

Edmonton Sun Editorial: DON'T CREDIT THE GRITS

http://www.cssa-cila.org/garryb/publications/Article440.htm