OTTAWA – There is evidence that since the 1977 version of federal gun control legislation was enacted, gun-related crime, homicides and suicides have declined, according to a study released by the federal government.
However, the authors of the justice department study say the evidence is not conclusive.
The report likely will provide fodder for both sides in the debate over whether the 1995 gun control bill, with a universal registration system to be phased in, is necessary and can be effective in increasing safety.
“Anyone looking for a straightforward answer to the question ‘has gun control met its objectives?’ will be disappointed,” said the authors of A Statistical Analysis of the Impacts of the 1977 Firearms Control Legislation. “There is not a simple yes or no response.”
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The report was compiled by the justice department after a suggestion from the federal auditor general that the effectiveness of previous legislation should be evaluated before new laws are passed.
Justice department officials drew heavily on research and analysis done by Prairie Research Associates Inc.
A simple analysis notes that firearm-related homicides and suicides have declined since 1977.
While the overall number of robberies has increased in the past 20 years, “robberies with firearms have declined over the same period. In general, the use of firearms has continued to decrease, reaching an historic low of approximately 25 percent of all robberies in recent years.”
There is evidence that “the legislation has reduced the rate of firearms accidents in Western Canada, but the same patterns were not evident in other regions.”
However, analyzing the results through a “structural model” provided some different results, including conflicting evidence about whether suicides involving firearms have fallen because of tighter controls.
However, this evaluation method “suggest(s) that the 1977 amendments have reduced the rate of homicides in Canada by approximately 55 per year.”
The 1977 legislation introduced a firearms acquisition certificate to control who could buy a gun.
