NCJ Number
157529
Date Published
1995
Length
23 pages
Annotation
This report on the findings and recommendations of the Canadian Firearms Smuggling Work Group addresses the problem of firearms smuggling in Canada and proposes appropriate solutions for the problems identified.
Abstract
Objectives of the Work Group were to determine the magnitude of firearms smuggling; assess the extent to which smuggled firearms were involved in criminal activity; and recommend the appropriate legislative, policy, and program responses to firearms smuggling and trafficking. Information and data were obtained from national and international consultations, including the collection and analysis of criminal intelligence information, and from the collection and analysis of data on firearms recovered by selected Canadian police departments. Generally, smuggling and illegal trafficking were identified as major concerns in the larger urban centers of Montreal, Toronto, and Vancouver. Several methods of illegal importation of firearms were identified, including mail/telephone orders, courier service deliveries, theft from warehouses, U.S. visitors leaving their firearms behind with friends or using them to pay their hunting guide, Canadians visiting U.S. gun shows and returning with undeclared firearms and parts, and domestic manufacture/assembly of restricted and prohibited firearms from imported parts. For commercial shipments of firearms smuggling methods included short-orders/false documentation and reporting, concealment with other commodities, and diversion. Data show that registered handguns were more likely to be used in attempted murder, threats, and other violent and property offenses; unregistered handguns, on the other hand, were more likely to be used in assault and drug offenses. Rifles accounted for over 80 percent of the suicide incidents. Just under one-half of recovered handguns were unregistered, suggesting that they had been smuggled into Canada and/or illegally trafficked. Unregistered handguns were more likely to be used in criminal activities than registered handguns. Recommendations focus on the exchange of criminal intelligence information, the import/export system, enforcement and penalties relating to smuggling, and the need for a comprehensive national database.