Murders Rarely Committed by Legal Firearm Owners: Statistics Canada

Police display seized firearms taken as part of an investigation called Operation Moneypenny in Toronto on April 11, 2023. A cross-border firearms trafficking investigation led to the arrests of 42 people and the seizure of 173 guns, police said. The Canadian Press/Kiernan Green

While the rate of homicides involving a firearm has increased in Canada, those crimes are not usually committed by people who have a licence for the weapon, according to a Statistics Canada report.

“The firearms used in homicides were rarely legal firearms used by their legal owners who were in good standing,” said the report, titled Firearms and Violent Crime in Canada 2022.