Dr. Mauser: Canada's gun laws have NOT saved lives

Dr. Mauser: Canada's gun laws have NOT saved lives
Date: Apr 28, 2007 5:51 PM
Dear Editor:

Truth has been one of the casualties of the tragic shootings at Virginia
Tech. It is false to claim that Canada's gun laws have saved lives, as
has Jack Layton, leader of the NDP.

There are two reasons such a claim cannot be true. First, Statistics
Canada has said there is no strong evidence to link the gun registry
with the recent decline in gun deaths. Perhaps the gun registry has been
effective, perhaps not, according to the government.

Second, total suicides and homicides have not declined.

Gun-related homicides and suicides totaled 974 in 1997 and just 779 in
2003, the most recent year statistics are available for suicides. That's
a drop of 192 deaths.

While gun deaths have indeed declined in Canada since 1997, the year the
firearm registry was introduced, total deaths from suicide or homicide
have increased.

There were a total of 4,257 homicides and suicides in 1997, but 4,313 in
2003. An increase in 56 deaths.

No lives are saved if potential suicides simply shift to other methods,
which is what the statistics show they did. This makes it is difficult
to say that any lives have been saved.

It may surprise people that most gun deaths are suicides. If we look
just at homicide, the refutation is even easier: gun homicides have
continued to increase since 1997.

There were 156 gun homicides in 1997, 161 in 2003, and 222 in 2005, the
most recent year statistics are available for homicides.

To check statistical claims, all one has to do is to go to Statistics
Canada's website. It's now available to anyone for free. The most
recent year Stats Can has suicide stats is 2003, but the most recent
year for homicide stats in 2005.

http://cansim2.statcan.ca/cgi-win/cnsmcgi.pgm?Lang=E&ResultTemplate=SRCH
4&CIITpl=CII___&CORCMD=GetTRel&CORId=3871&CORRel=4

Respectfully yours,


Professor Gary Mauser, Ph D
Institute for Canadian Urban Research Studies
Faculty of Business Administration
Simon Fraser University
Burnaby BC
604-291-3652 office
www.garymauser.net/

Note: There are also a few additional gun deaths each year from
accidents and police shootings. I've ignored these deaths in these
calculations due to their small numbers and the difficulty of getting
recent statistics.