Point of Information

Where do Black Market Handguns Originate?

As the number of incidents with handguns continues to grow in some Canadian cities, a few political figures have taken to calling for a total abolition of private handgun ownership in Canada. Foremost among these has been Toronto’s Mayor David Miller, who has asserted that handguns stolen from “so-called collectors and hobbyists” make a significant contribution to the gun deaths in his city. The mayor and Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty also insist that a significant share of the handguns used by criminal gangs have been smuggled in from the United States.

So far, calls to ban private ownership of handguns have failed to ignite a wider debate, but this can always change. If a debate on private handgun ownership begins, it will be handicapped by a considerable problem: Nobody, including the Toronto mayor and the Ontario premier, has any real idea of the reality of the sources of supply for black market handguns.

In Canada, handguns have been subjected to the following:

Contrary to public belief, a handgun owner must store and transport his pistols in locked containers with trigger locks on the pistols themselves, and with ammunition stored in a separate container. They simply cannot carry loaded handguns anywhere except on a government-approved range.

Are these the handguns causing the mayhem on the streets of Canada’s great cities? Or are smuggled handguns at fault? Notwithstanding assertions by some elected officials about gun owners, most police officers and forensics experts believe that smuggled firearms constitute the vast majority of firearms used in violent criminal offences.

One member of the Ontario Centre for Forensic Sciences observed that more than 90% of the gang-related firearms that come across his desk had barrel lengths of less than 105mm and/or magazines that held more than ten rounds. This means that these firearms have been illegal to own or import since 1995 and 1992 respectively, and most were probably smuggled into Canada since then.

Gang task force officers variously estimated to the author that between 80 and 90% of the firearms used by local gangs were smuggled into Canada. These officers were from Vancouver and the Toronto area which, together with Winnipeg, constitute the Canadian cities with the worst violence problems.

While the United States is often identified by police and politicians alike as the leading source of black market firearms, some gang task force officers and forensic specialists observe an increasing popularity with our criminal element for firearms manufactured in Brazil, Eastern Europe and China.

There is one other critical problem in assessing the source and nature of handguns used by criminals: Nobody is collecting and compiling reliable statistics. By coincidence, it might be that the assertions of Mayor Miller are entirely correct, or perhaps the picture suggested by front-line police officers is more accurate. Nobody can say what the true situation is with any certainty.

Both the RCMP at the Federal Level, and various provincial bodies such as the Ontario Provincial Weapons Enforcement Unit, conduct their own ‘traces’ (an inquiry using the description and stamped serial number on the side of a seized or retrieved handgun) to determine where a pistol became diverted from legitimate ownership to the black market; or indeed, if it has any legitimate history at all. They do not pool their findings or appear to use a standardized data set that identifies the type, caliber, and manufacture of retrieved firearms, nor where those weapons were found (at a suicide, on a suspected gang member or crime scene, or from a confiscated gun collection).

Some 13 years ago, when researching the black market in firearms, the Institute noticed that Canadian statistics on firearms deaths and criminal usage were badly kept, sloppy in the details and scarcely uniform from province to province. For example, while the annual report on causes of death in Canada kept an accurate tally of firearms deaths by homicide, accident, suicide or justifiable homicide, many times it was clear that the accompanying information as to the type of firearm involved had never been recorded.

Many handgun owners believe the vagueness is deliberate, since the objection to handgun ownership by gun control advocates allows them to avoid dealing with the real causes of crime in our cities; and to focus blame on a small unpopular minority.

But anecdotes and assertions, pro or con, do not constitute analysis. If there is to be another debate on the civilian ownership of handguns, shouldn’t we know the real nature of the problem first? By failing to keep accurate statistics on the nature and source of all firearms retrieved from criminal hands, we cannot effectively control the problem. If we divert energy to penalizing legitimate gun owners, are we facilitating the continuation of a black market?

‘Toronto mayor renews call for handgun ban’, CTV.ca 18 January, 2008 – although the mayor’s references to “so-called collectors” go back to 2006. Many handgun collectors find this description particularly irritating.

The Mackenzie Institute

The Institute was formed in 1986 to provide research and comment on such diverse subjects as terrorism, organized crime, political extremism, propaganda, conflict and other such matters. It does not shy away from controversy.

The Institute holds to the proposition that our democratic institutions need to be defended and enhanced, and works to do what it can to protect the stability of Canadian society.

Those who support its purposes are invited to become Friends of the Institute, and those who contribute $60 (or more) to it, receive its publications for the next twelve months.

John Thompson is President of the Mackenzie Institute which studies political instability and terrorism. He can be reached at: institute@mackenzieinstitute.com

The Mackenzie Institute

The Institute was formed in 1986 to provide research and comment on such diverse subjects as terrorism, organized crime, political extremism, propaganda, conflict and other such matters. It does not shy away from controversy.

The Institute holds to the proposition that our democratic institutions need to be defended and enhanced, and works to do what it can to protect the stability of Canadian society.

Those who support its purposes are invited to become Friends of the Institute, and those who contribute $60 (or more) to it, receive its publications for the next twelve months.