Public Safety committee  Sure. The current proposals even confuse me because they're talking about assault weapons. In terms of research, it's really hard to know what that even means. In my mind, they're probably talking about semi-automatic rifles. If you look at all the research, including what I've

Public Safety committee  Very well. To go back to this assault weapon, it's no wonder to me that we have this strange list and we have some guns on it, some not, and it doesn't seem to make sense to anybody. It doesn't make sense to me as a researcher, because to me, it would be based on the action of t

Public Safety committee  You're asking someone who is a statistician if they'd like more data, and the answer is yes. We always like more data. The good thing is that actually there is a very low number of mass homicides in this country, so that alone speaks to something. Partly, it's a population issu

Public Safety committee  The difficulty is that, for many criminals, they just need the gun for one purpose at one time and then they can throw it away. Even a printed polycarbonate barrel would be for one use, and then it's done. The recommendations I would give you would be to start targeting youth at

Public Safety committee  Criminals will use any firearm they can obtain. There's not a firearm, specifically. They're mostly looking for handguns, but they will use whatever they can get. The SKS was brought up earlier. It's a firearm that's been around since the 1940s. It's commonly used. It was very c

Public Safety committee  Yes. There's a fluctuation that appears, but statistically there isn't an increase associated with an increase in the rates of firearm ownership.

Public Safety committee  All firearm homicides are included in the research. Unfortunately, Statistics Canada doesn't label guns as ghost guns. They'll label them as “other” sometimes, if it's difficult to identify or they just were not identified in the report. Currently, there's no real record of speci

Public Safety committee  It's a new era. It's a new thing we're starting to see. It is going to have to catch up with its methods, and so will the police services that report these to Statistics Canada.

Public Safety committee  It's definitely something I would like to look at. Unfortunately, right now, the data doesn't exist.

Public Safety committee  Anecdotally, it is. The rates have increased. Of course, as measures are taken to restrict firearm ownership, a black market will exist. We're starting to see that. These things are being printed, and 3D printers are also becoming a lot more common across North America. It's one

Public Safety committee  Yes.

Public Safety committee  That's correct.

Public Safety committee  That's correct.

Public Safety committee  That's correct—in this country, in Canada.

Public Safety committee  Yes. I use a lot of the Statistics Canada data. However, my studies have been peer-reviewed. They've also appeared in review articles, including in a recent Canadian Medical Association Journal article and rated the highest evidence that was available for examining this issue.