Senator Dean twisted statistics on the Senate floor. He incorrectly said that shooting was the most common way to commit suicide in Canada. It is not.

According to Cause of Death statistics reported by Statistics Canada, hanging has been the most common suicide method for decades, accounting for an average 47% of all suicides since 2010. Although Senator Dean was correct when he said suicide represented 75% of gun deaths.

Suicide Methods (2010-2016)

Hanging 1,921 47%

Poisoning 946 23

Shooting 572 14

Jumping 298 7

Other 276 7

Total 4,063 100%

Senator Dean also incorrectly implied that firearms ownership was inordinately dangerous, causing 240 hospitalizations and 13 accidental deaths annually. According to the Canadian Institute for Health Information, the shooting sports are one of the least dangerous sporting activities in Canada 2018.

Sports injury hospitalizations (2016-2017)

All-terrain vehicle 2,834

Hockey 711

Skateboard 637

Ski/snowboard 1,717

Soccer 267

Shooting 240

In terms of accidental deaths, the Senator is correct in saying that 13 Canadians are accidently shot to death. Thanks to the untiring work by hunting organizations and sport shooting groups, accidental firearms deaths have plummeted over the past 50 years.

Accidental shooting deaths are rare when compared with other accidental dangers.

Statistics Canada reported the following accidental deaths in 2016:

Falls 4,681

Motor vehicles 2,282

Drowning 253

Medical “misadventures” 130

Pedal cycling 59

Firearms 10

Senator Dean claimed that, according to StatsCan, nearly 600 women were victims of spousal abuse involving firearms in 2016. The Honorable Senator forgot to mention that knives are more often used to injure or murder women than are firearms.

(Note added later: Senator Dean has partially apologized for incorrectly stating that “shooting was the most common way to commit suicide in Canada.” ] Unfortunately, he continues to consider firearms as uniquely dangerous. They are not. The statistics presented in this blog clearly show they are not.

In terms of the risk to women from firearms, I urge you to read an article I cowrote with Professor Samara McPhedran of Griffith University, in Australia, that appeared in Violence and Victims, Volume 28,Number 5, 2013. “Lethal Firearm-Related Violence Against Canadian Women: Did Tightening Gun Laws Have an Impact on Women’s Health and Safety?” We concluded that, “There was little evidence to suggest that increased firearms legislation in Canada had a significant impact on pre-existing trends in lethal firearm violence against women.”