ALL ILLEGAL GUNS BEGIN AS LEGAL GUNS
Opponents of gun control keep saying “punish the criminals”, leave the law abiding gun owners alone. But where do criminals get their guns? Although half of the handguns recovered in crime are smuggled in from the USA, the other half originate from Canadian gun owners. Legal guns are misused by their owners and used in domestic homicide, suicide and accidents. We have seen a number of high profile shootings – including Toronto’s 2005 Boxing Day shooting – where the guns have been stolen from so called law abiding gun owners. And handguns are not the only threat – half the police officers killed in recent years have been killed with rifles and shotguns not handguns. ...download pdf

MORE GUNS = MORE DEATHS
Some claim that more guns will make us safer. In fact, where there are more guns there are more deaths. A terrible irony is that both in Canada and internationally where there are more guns there tend to be more opposition to gun control. What’s worse, where there are more guns there are also higher rates of gun death and injury....download pdf

QUICK FACTS ABOUT THE FIREARMS PROGRAM: THE SYSTEM IS WORKING
Claims that the system is without value are simply untrue. The police have said time and time again that the Firearms Act, and the system, provides valuable tools for keeping Canada safe. In spite of the virulent opposition, over 90% of gun owners have been licensed and 90% of guns have been registered. As of 2009, the system is being used by police 11,085 times a day and police report many cases where it has been used to prevent tragedies or solve crimes. ...download pdf

THE COSTS OF GUN CONTROL VS. THE COSTS OF GUN VIOLENCE
There has been a lot of deliberate misinformation about the firearms program fuelled by its opponents. First and foremost, the “registry” has become short form for Canada’s entire system of licensing gun owners and registering firearms. Close to a billion dollars was spent – over a 10 year period – most of the money was spent on screening and licensing gun owners NOT on
registering firearms. Currently the costs of the system are about $80 million dollars a year. 2 million gun owners have been licensed and their licenses must be renewed – this is an ongoing cost. But firearms only have to be registered once, unless they are sold or traded. To date 7million guns have been registered – ...download pdf