The history of gun control in Canada demonstrates that it has been largely ineffectual in terms of reducing firearms-related crimes. Rifles and shotguns are relatively easy to obtain, while handguns and semi-automatic rifles are restricted. The Criminal Law Amendment Act was a gun control law passed by the Pierre Trudeau Liberals in 1977. Several studies have found that it had no impact on reducing homicide and robbery rates, and one such study even found that it may have increased robberies involving firearms.
In 2012, another study looked at gun control laws passed in Canada between 1974 and 2008. It found no evidence that these laws had a beneficial effect on firearm-related homicide rates. According to the study, other more salient factors were found to be associated with homicide rates, such as median age, unemployment, immigration rates, poverty, population per police officer, and incarceration rates. A 2013 study of the 1995 Firearms Act reported little evidence that it significantly reduced rates of lethal gun violence against women. This was the principal demographic identified by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in announcing his Government’s May 2020 Order banning 1,500 kinds of military-style semi-automatic rifles.
Published in the Grey Matter Podcast.
