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MEMORANDUM FOR THE MINISTER: FIREARMS-RELATED VIOLENT CRIME IN CANADA, 2009-2017 – Public Safety Canada Access to Information File: A-2018-00244 – May 29, 2019 Response to my Informal Request – EXCERPTS:

In 2017, there were approximately 7,700 victims of violent crime reported to police in Canada in 2017 (excluding Quebec where data were not available) where a firearm was present. MY NOTE: ‘present’ does not mean ‘used’.

The number (and rate) of victims of firearm-related violent crime declined 33% between 2009 and 2013, reaching its lowest point in recent years. This downward trend stopped in 2013, and has since gone up by 42% by 2017.

In spite of an increase in the overall volume of firearm-related violent crime, the 2017 rate of 27.3 victims per 100,000 Canadians was still 5% lower than in 2009..

While the number and rate of break and enter incidents to steal firearms steadily increased since 2009, it declined slightly in 2017.

Further, the number and rate of crimes for unsafe storage also declined in 2017, following several years of general decline.

Break and enter and unsafe storage trends have both declined in 2017. These findings may contradict narratives which identify break and enter as a key method to illegally obtain firearms, both in private homes and in commercial establishments.

STATISTICS CANADA’S DEFINITION OF ‘FIREARMS RELATED CRIME’ IS VERY MISLEADING – Number Of Violent Crimes Involving Guns Exaggerated By An Over-Inclusive Definition Of Gun Crime – By Gary Mauser – Canada Free Press – February 23, 2015 http://canadafreepress.com/article/6996