>> Firearm-related deaths are on the decline in Montreal, but that doesn't mean there are fewer guns on the streets

by CARL AMABILI

Having lived through the experiences of the Polytèchnique and Concordia University massacres, it's not surprising that Montreal doesn't really have a problem with gun control. Firearms registration is a real no-brainer for Quebecers, even though their streets are relatively safe.

"In the past few years, the rate of homicide in Quebec has been dropping," Inspector Yves Charette of the MUC police verifies. According to Charette, in 1996 there were 362 firearm-related deaths in Quebec: 290 suicides, 64 homicides, five accidents and three unknown [the coroner's office could not determine if the deaths were suicides or murders]. In 1997 there were even fewer--327 gun-related deaths: 268 suicides, 50 homicides, eight accidents and only one unknown.

Montreal is definitely part of this province-wide trend: the rate of firearm-related deaths have been declining in the city as well. In 1996, there were 55 homicides; 21 involved firearms and, of these, 15 were handguns. "Last year," Charette continues, "Montreal had only 49 homicides; 19 were firearm related and 14 of these involved handguns. So far this year there were 32 homicides and 11 were firearm related."

Black market firearms

What Montrealers may find surprising, though, is the ease with which an illegal firearm can be obtained. Four out of five connected individuals, when interviewed by this reporter, said it would be no problem (as long as I was discreet) for them to hook me up with a handgun within three to five days.

"Anyone with any connection to any illegal trade--like selling dope, growing pot, prostitution or armed robbery--can get a gun for protection with little or no hassles," explains Shorty, who has dealt drugs for a notorious biker gang. "I could get you one tomorrow if you really needed one, for, let's say, $500."

Illegal firearms can be purchased locally through a variety of sources and most of these weapons have crossed the U.S. border. Gunrunning in biker gangs, organized crime and through reservations--as well as stolen guns--are the main sources through which illegal weapons and ammunition may be obtained.

But Wendy Cukier of the Coalition for Gun Control thinks cross-border gunrunning isn't the real problem. "In big cities like Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver, where there is a big drug trade, you have more smuggled guns. But just think of murder cases in the Montreal area: lots of recovered guns were legally owned. This whole myth that it's the illegal guns and the dirty criminals that kill people is wrong."

In all, 3,000 to 4,000 guns are reported stolen every year in Canada. These guns, by definition, are going straight into the hands of criminals. However, the circumstances in which most Canadians are killed isn't in the course of a crime: most people in Canada are killed by individuals who they know, during an argument or a domestic dispute.

And, as Cukier points out, most are killed with legally acquired firearms. "Presently, if you have a firearms acquisition certificate (FAC), it allows you to get as many guns as you want and no record is kept. You could buy 600 guns, 1,000 guns or one gun, whatever, and the only record that's kept is in the store. So if someone is having trouble getting their hands on guns, because they ought not to have guns, and someone who can get guns chooses to sell weapons to them, there is almost no way those guns can be traced unless you do a store-by-store search. It's very easy to get guns legally."

And it looks like it's going to get even easier: while Canada's new gun-control legislation will force firearm owners to register all their guns, the new registration system will also speed up the approval process. A joint RCMP/Ministry of Justice pilot project has created the Firearms Registration Direct Entry System (FREDES), which will cut weeks of waiting to register a weapon into hours.

"The paper process used to take between 30 days and three months for an applicant to receive a certificate," explains Inspector Mike Buisson of Justice Canada. "With FREDES we can have a registration certificate in the mail within 24 hours."

More guns than you think

Currently, there are more than six million firearms in Canada: three million rifles, two million shotguns and one million handguns. There may be up to one million unregistered and illegal firearms on top of these numbers. Every year, about 16,000 people are denied ownership of guns--usually because they have been previously convicted of assault, attempted murder or are otherwise under prohibition from the courts. An average of 658 people are murdered in Canada each year (based on a 20-year average from 1975 to 1994). Of those, an average of 223 are killed by firearms.

Approximately one quarter of all Canadian households own a firearm and, according to Cukier, more than half of these homes support gun-control legislation. Only 50 per cent of gun owners in Canada report using their weapons in the previous year. Reasons given for owning guns are hunting, collecting, target shooting and employment.

No official statistics are available on the number of legally owned firearms in the Montreal area. However, surveys have shown that, in Montreal, 95 per cent of legal gun owners use firearms for recreational purposes, and the remaining five per cent, mostly police and armed guards, carry them for professional reasons. Based on these figures, there could be as many as 100,000 legally owned guns on the island of Montreal, though the number could easily be twice as high.

40,000 Americans killed each year

Our national figures are dwarfed by American statistics. It's estimated that 150,000 Americans are injured by gunfire every year, a situation which requires some $20 billion in medical treatment. Lost productivity and other expenses raise the total cost of gun injuries to more than $100 billion. Meanwhile, the annual death toll from gunfire in recent years has been approaching 40,000. If current trends continue, firearm fatalities will become America's leading cause of injury-related death by 2003.

Luckily, we live in Canada. Stiffer penalties for using a firearm in the commission of a crime came into existence two years ago as part of the Firearms Act. Since January 1996, 10 different offenses (including murder, manslaughter, aggressive sexual assault and armed robbery) entail a four-year minimum penalty. And with Bill C-68, the new gun-control legislation that comes into effect December 1, the government expects all firearms to be registered and accounted for by the year 2003.

Even so, Jim Clausdale of Brink's Security says it's business as usual for security companies and money transporters, which receive a number of exemptions from Bill C-68 because they use firearms as part of their profession. Except for a few technicalities, armed guards shouldn't feel the effects of the new federal legislation. They are still able to tote shotguns in and out of businesses.

Mario Blanchette of the armoured car company Sécur says no armed guards have been killed in Montreal since 1994. "Our most recent attack was on August 1 at a Super C on Jean-Talon. Robbers threw cayenne pepper in the agents' faces and then grabbed their guns. But the last time an armed guard died in the line of duty was the Monkland Provigo hold-up. Some years we will have three incidents and then sometimes nothing happens for five years. Montreal's a pretty safe city."