Rifles And Shotguns In Firearm Incidents

Firearms in Crime

• Non-restricted rifles and shotguns are the type of firearms most often recovered by police.
• In one study, 52% of the firearms recovered by police in relation to criminal incidents were non-restricted rifles and shotguns (Antonowicz Consulting, 1997). The study was conducted as a joint research project with the Department of Justice Canada, and police services in Saint John (New Brunswick), Hull (Quebec), Thunder Bay and Windsor (Ontario), and Regina (Saskatchewan).
• In 1995, 51% of the firearms recovered by the Winnipeg Police Service in criminal incidents were non-restricted rifles and shotguns (Proactive Information Services Inc., 1997).
• Data collected from ten Canadian police agencies by the national Firearms Smuggling Work Group reported that in 1993, 47% of the firearms recovered in connection with criminal incidents were non-restricted rifles and shotguns.
• In the above three studies, recovered firearms served as the unit of analysis, not criminal incidents involving firearms-where firearms are often not recovered. In these studies, the firearms may or may not have been used directly in the commission of crime. For example, it includes firearms recovered by police during a drug raid.

Firearm Homicides

Homicide data from 1974 to 1997 reveal that 54% of all firearm homicides were committed with a non-restricted rifle or shotgun. Starting in 1991, handgun homicides surpassed rifles and shotguns accounting for 50% of all firearm homicides (1991 - 1997).

Domestic Homicides

• A report commissioned by the Department of Justice on domestic homicide involving firearms (Dansys Consulting Inc., 1992) revealed that 85% of such homicides were committed with a non-restricted rifle or shotgun.
• In 1997, 27 % of all domestic homicides involved firearms. In the 51 domestic firearm homicides, rifles and shotguns (including sawed-off rifles and shotguns) were used in 76 % of the cases.

Firearm Suicides

• The Department's multi-site study (Antonowicz Consulting, 1997) revealed that in 1995, 74% of all firearms recovered in attempts and suicides from the five sites were non-restricted rifles or shotguns. This finding is consistent with other site studies.
• A Departmental research report examined firearm suicide in Ontario and Manitoba (Moyer and Carrington, 1992). The report also revealed that long guns were used more often than other firearms.

Firearm Injuries

A Departmental study on the cost of firearm-related injuries in Alberta found that 66% of the firearm injuries requiring emergency care involved a non-restricted rifle or shotgun. Injuries involving shotguns were the most expensive to treat (Injury Prevention Centre, 1996).

* Injury Prevention Centre, Edmonton (April 1996). Medical Costs of Firearm-Related Injuries: A Pilot Project in Alberta: Department of Justice Canada.

Firearms Research Unit
Canada Firearms Centre
March 1999