Gary Mauser: Number of violent crimes involving guns exaggerated by an over-inclusive definition of gun crime

By using an over-inclusive definition, Statistics Canada has exaggerated the number of violent crimes that involve guns. The result is that gun violence appears to be four times more frequent than it really is. In 2013 (the most recent year statistics are available) Statistics Canada reports that there were 5,027 “firearms-related” incidents out of 263,054 violent crimes (i.e., 2% of violent crimes). Clearly, gun violence isn’t prevalent.

But even that small share exaggerates the frequency that a gun was actually used to commit a violent crime. A Special Request I made to Statistics Canada late in 2014 revealed that a gun was actually used in just 1,194 violent crimes in 2013. Gun violence only occurred in one-quarter of “firearms-related” crimes and in just 0.5% of violent crimes.

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