According to “Guns, Gangs and Violence,” the new police report Ontario’s York Regional Police have determined that 100% of all seized guns that can be traced were illegally smuggled into Canada from the United States.
of Present In a November 7 report to the York Local Police Service Commission, Inspector Ahmad Salhya said the liberal government’s gun freeze by Bill C-21 did not target illegal arms smuggling into the country.
“The key here is not the illegal handgun, but the newly acquired handgun,” Sarria said. He said it was the position of the York Police Department that “this bill will not impede the flow of illegal firearms from the United States into Canada.”
Illegal guns smuggled out of the US
According to York Police, the majority of firearms seized on the streets are smuggled illegally rather than by legal firearm owners.
Salhia told the Police Services Commission that a “common theme” throughout the presentation was “illegal firearms entering Canada from the United States.”
For example, of the 107 guns seized by police by October 1 this year, 83 were successfully tracked, Salhia said. His 100% of these guns—all 83 of his—turned out to be illegal firearms illegally smuggled into Canada from the United States.
Bill C-21, which took effect on October 22, places a nationwide freeze on the sale, purchase and transfer of handguns by Canadian citizens, as well as a freeze on the entry of newly acquired handguns into the country. Only carefully screened, licensed, trained and registered Canadians are permitted to obtain a firearms license (PAL or RPAL) and are permitted, under strict requirements, to carry handguns or long firearms (shotguns or rifle) can be legally owned.
In 2021, 68 handguns seized by police were traced, 98% of which were identified as illegally entering Canada from the United States.In 2020, 45 handguns were traced, 94% of which was illegally imported from the United States.
Of the 37 guns seized by October 1 this year, 68%, or 25, had been traced to the United States and illegally smuggled into Canada. Thirty-two percent, or 12 guns, were of unknown origin.
Salhia told the board that when police seize firearms, they usually identify the source of the firearm and send it out for pursuit to trace the source of the firearm. Guns of unknown provenance have their serial numbers expunged, and either the police are unable to track them down, or the guns are still being tracked, he explained.
In 2022, the York Police Robbery Squad seized 25 criminal firearms. Twenty-three of them, or 92%, ended up in the United States. 8% were listed as of unknown origin. The homicide department seized his three crime guns. One traces back to the United States, and his other two are of unknown origin.
GGDEU units sized 42 criminal guns, of which 81 percent were tracked, 19 percent of unknown origin.
Between 2016 and 2021, there was a 4,000% increase in frontline firearm seizures by uniformed police on the streets, Salhia said. Frontline seizures are separate from law enforcement and seizures.
In 2016, police seized a gun on the street. In 2021, police seized 41 of him. As of 1 October this year, York Police had already seized 37 people, with a total of 48 to 50 seizures by uniformed officers expected in 2022.
gang crime
York Police said intelligence services had identified gangs as a significant cause of violent crime in the area. The Toronto Streets He gang member has amassed his fortune through crime and moved to suburban communities like York, the conference said.
In 2022, police have identified over 100 gang members currently living in the York area from over 37 gangs, including the Galloway Boys, Driftwood Cripps, Haywan Gang, MS-13 and Lanes Gang.
There have been 163 firearms or shooting incidents in the York area since 2019.
Project Monarch, a multi-jurisdictional gang enforcement agency formed between York Local Police, London Police, Peel Local Police and Ontario Police, has arrested 22 suspected gangsters and charged more than 400 charges. , seized an additional 27 handguns, and committed $1.3 million in misconduct. drugs, and over $160,000 in cash.
Salhya said Project Monarch dismantled a sophisticated criminal network that circulated large amounts of cocaine and fentanyl throughout Ontario and dismantled a criminal pipeline that caused the illicit flow of firearms into Canada from the United States. said.
“We believe these firearms were destined for street violent criminals,” the inspector said. Salhya said the criminal conspiracy to import illegal firearms from the United States into Canada was founded on Walpole Island, the first ethnic community in western Ontario, and Port He, Michigan, between Port He Huron and St He Clare River at He 800. He said he suspected he was using a meter gap. as an entry point.
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Marnie Cathcart is a reporter based in Edmonton.