Parliamentary Committee Notes: Firearms Statistics

Firearm / Handgun Ownership

2,245,842 individuals licensed
- 1.5M non-restricted, 683k restricted, 43.5k prohibited
- - 87% male (~1.9M), 13% female (~285,000)
7.7% of Canadian adult (18+) population

~10,040,000 total (estimated)
1.2 M Restricted and Prohibited, most are handguns
- 1.0M Handguns owned by 276,000 individuals
- Acquisition exemptions proposed for:
  - 8,000 elite level sport shooters and 6,000 ATC
699 businesses authorized to sell restricted firearms (HGs)

~20% of firearms seized by police are sent for tracing2
7,412 firearms traced
2,859 of traced firearms were domestically sourced
- 89% (2,281) long guns and 21% (578) handguns
2,420 of traced firearms were internationally sourced
- 11% (284) long guns and 79% (2,136) handguns
3,023 firearms stolen
Firearms seized at border: 1,122 (2021–2022)
- 57% of seized firearms were handguns

342 firearms homicides (39% of all homicides) [2022]
- 63% (216) committed with a handgun
44% of firearm homicides were gang-related between 2005 and 2020, 56% not gang-related
8,047 victims of firearms-related violent crime
8,265 incidents of firearms-related violent crime
Most common types of crime committed using firearms:
- 29% robbery; 26% physical assault; 9% uttering threats; 4% attempted murder; 3% homicide [2020]
Handguns most commonly used type of firearm in commission of firearms-related violent crime (54% of total)

803 (10%) IPV firearms victims
- 83% of those were women and girls
Proportion of females killed by a spouse or intimate partner is over 8 times greater than males
Victims and perpetrators of firearm-related violent crime (2017): 72% male victims, 90% male perpetrators
12,244 firearms suicides (2000–2020)
- 75% of all firearms deaths in that period (16,194)
- 583 average number of annual suicides by firearm (2000–2020)
- 96% committed by males

All figures from 2021 unless otherwise noted