Majority of Offences Involve Illegally Owned Guns

In Auckland, New Zealand, government data reports that 879 firearms offences were committed in the first six months of 2024. Only 18 of those offences were carried out by people with an active firearms licence.^[i]

Port-au-Prince, Haiti, was cut off from the world by air, sea and land blockades, yet criminal gangs had no problem getting illegal guns and ammo.^[ii]

The Dominican Republic sealed the Haiti’s shared border and airspace
The Bahamas launched a naval blockade to keep Haitians out
The UK sent a warship to stop anyone from seeking refuge in Turks and Caicos, a British overseas territory, and
Florida increased marine and aviation patrols.

Despite this multi-national force blockading Haiti’s coast, borders and air space, illegal guns and ammunition continue to pour into the island nation, most sourced from the United States.

Mexico’s drug cartels are armed with guns smuggled in from the United States. A recent federal firearms report shows 43% of all guns recovered from drug cartels and other criminal networks came from Texas.^[iii]

In Canada, Justin Trudeau claims, “When people are being killed, when people are being hurt, responsible leadership requires us to act,” Trudeau said. “We’ve seen too many examples of horrific tragedies involving firearms.”^[iv]

Yet 16 months after Trudeau imposed a “handgun freeze” (and four years after banning over 2,000 makes and models of semi-automatic rifles and shotguns) criminals continue to shoot and kill people.

Toronto Police estimate that around 85% of crime guns seized in the city originate from the United States.^[v]

It’s as if Trudeau’s highly publicized handgun freeze and semi-automatic gun ban by Order in Council had no effect on criminals at all.

Police continue to arrest smugglers with hundreds of illegal guns in their possession, yet no matter how many arrests are made, smuggled guns continue to flow into Toronto’s criminal underworld as if an international border did not exist.

Canada, like New Zealand and Australia, expends enormous amounts of capital – both political and financial – to keep tabs on licensed firearms owners, resources that would be much better focused on drug dealers, gangs and other violent criminals to prevent them from smuggling guns into their countries.

Unfortunately, Canada, New Zealand and Australia also share another common issue – loud and committed gun-hating lobby groups.

Those groups all parrot some variation of Heidi Rathjen’s 1995 declaration in a House of Commons Committee room.

“We have an agenda, and our task will be completed when all firearms have been prohibited… our position has been consistent over these five years and will not change.”

Almost 30 years later, Rathjen and her cohorts remain committed to that declaration, and their commitment has never changed.

If you are one of Canada’s 2.3 million licensed firearms owners who still believe your guns are safe from confiscation by a current or future government, wake up.

The only reason Heidi Rathjen and her Liberal Party pals haven’t come for your guns yet is because they are focused on banning semi-automatic rifles, shotguns and handguns today.

They haven’t forgotten about you.

Once those semi-automatic rifles, shotguns and handguns are gone, that small yet vocal minority who hates you, your guns, your culture of safety and responsibility will come for you next.

And finally, after all the licensed firearms owners are dead or disarmed, the same vocal minority who insist Canada will be Utopia once the legal guns were confiscated might finally realize what we’ve said for generations.

A gun owner licensing system and its firearms registry can only track those willing to abide by the law.

For those with the courage to read them, news reports from around the world tell us repeatedly that smugglers are always willing to take a risk when the reward is great enough.

After the last legal firearm is confiscated and destroyed, drug dealers, gangs and other criminals will still possess their illegal guns and ammo, and those guns are a lot harder to confiscate.

You cannot stop violent drug dealers, gangs and criminals by confiscating firearms from federally licensed RCMP vetted gun owners.

That is the cold, hard fact that Heidi Rathjen’s small, vocal minority and the politicians who pander to them refuse to face.

Conservative MP and Parliamentary Outdoors Caucus co-chair Bob Zimmer said:

“Every time good firearms legislation comes out of the House of Commons, CSSA is behind it. Every time bad firearms legislation comes out of the house of Commons, CSSA is in front of it.”

Stand with CSSA.