NCJ Number
174587
Date Published
1997
Length
51 pages
Annotation
Firearms recovered by police in Canada were studied with respect to the numbers and types of firearms recovered, the criminal and noncriminal incidents in which police recover firearms, the numbers of firearms directly and indirectly involved in incidents, and the numbers of restricted firearms registered in the Restricted Weapons Registration System.
Abstract
The data came from property room logbooks and computerized incident databases in five police agencies for 1995. The agencies served a population of 648,500 and recovered 831 firearms. More than half of these firearms were nonrestricted rifles, just over one-fifth were air guns, and about one-fifth were handguns. Fifty-seven percent were recovered in criminal incidents; 40 percent were recovered in noncriminal incidents. Weapon offense incidents such as possession of a restricted weapon were the most common type of criminal incident that resulted in the recovery of a firearm. Most of the firearms recovered in noncriminal incidents were turned in for destruction. A majority of the firearms recovered as a result of a criminal incident were directly involved in the incident. In addition, 74 percent of the firearms recovered in attempted and completed suicides were nonrestricted rifles and shotguns; 15 percent were handguns. Tables, figure, footnotes, appended results from each agency, and 3 references