The rate of firearm-related violent crime in 2021 was 25% higher than it was nearly a decade earlier in 2012, according to a Statistics Canada.
“While police-reported violent crime in Canada increased 4% from 2020 to 2021, the rate of firearm-related violent crime decreased 5%,” said the agency in a report, “Firearms and Violent Crime in Canada.”
“Despite this recent decline, firearm-related violent crime has generally been increasing since the early 2010s.”
The report comes as deadly shootings take place across the country.
“Unlike the trend seen in firearm-related violent crime in general, the rate of shooting homicides was up 6% in 2021,” the study found.
“This marked the highest rate of police-reported shooting homicides since 1992 and, at 297, the most homicides by firearm ever recorded.”
Gautam Malkani knows all too well the painful cost of the gun violence.
His friend Ike Kaja, 49, was shot outside his Avenue Rd. home in Toronto Jan. 23. The financial analyst and father of one died Jan. 26.
His killing remains unsolved.
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“We probably need different ways of looking at how to solve this,” said Malkani. “Because whatever we’re doing is clearly not working.”
More than a dozen of Kaja’s friends marked what would have been his 50th birthday at the end of October.
There are plans to remember his life once again in January.
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“We want to show that Ike was loved, and the community cares about him, and this group will do whatever it takes to push for justice,” Malkani said.
In Toronto this year, there have been 365 shooting incidents, according to Toronto Police. As of Dec. 12, 42 people have been killed in shootings, matching the number at the same point in 2021.
The national study also found shooting homicides accounted for 40% of all killings in the country in 2021, making shooting the leading cause of death among victims of homicide for the sixth straight year.
Shooting was followed by stabbing (32%), beatings (17%) and other methods (10%).
In each year since 1995, handguns — 57% — were the most common type of firearm used in shooting homicides in Canada in 2021, followed by rifles or shotguns (26%).
“Close to half — 46% — of all shooting homicides in 2021 were confirmed or suspected to be related to gang activity, according to police, compared with 7% of homicides committed via any other method,” the study showed.
slaurie@postmedia.com
twitter: @_ScottLaurie
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