Gun crimes among teens on the rise: StatsCan

More young people used guns in violent crimes in Canada in 2006, part of an increase seen over the past four years, a Statistics Canada report released Wednesday says.

Police forces reported 8,105 victims of violent gun crime over the year, ranging from assault to robbery and homicide. Two-thirds of the crimes involved handguns.

The report notes that firearm-related crimes overall have remained stable from 2002 to 2006.

But in three of those four years, the number of teenagers aged 12 to 17 accused in such crimes rose, for a total increase of 32 per cent since 2002.

The report says 1,287 young people were accused in 2006 of firearm-related crimes, mostly robbery.

The report comes amid commotion over the federal government's push for the Senate to approve an omnibus bill focusing on gun crime.

Under the crime bill, there would be higher mandatory sentences for gun crimes and accused gun offenders would be subject to restricted bail.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper has threatened to force a spring election unless the Liberal-dominated Senate speeds the bill into law by March 1.

Vancouver has the most gun violence

The highest rates of gun violence, when population is taken into account, were found in the country's largest cities, with Vancouver at the top, followed by Winnipeg and Toronto.

Vancouver had 45.3 violent offences involving guns for every 100,000 people, with Winnipeg's rate 43.9 and Toronto's 40.4.

The national average was 27.5 gun-related violent offences per 100,000 people. Only three of the largest cities — Ottawa, Quebec City and Hamilton — fell below the average.

Edmonton led with the highest rate of gun-related homicide in 2006, followed by the southern B.C. city of Abbotsford.

For the third year in a row, Halifax reported the highest rate of robbery involving firearms, a rate nearly double that of Vancouver's and Toronto's.

Gun crime higher in West

The report found firearm-related violence, as with crime in general, was higher in Western provinces than in the East.

Rates in Saskatchewan, Manitoba, British Columbia and Alberta were two or three times greater than in Newfoundland and Labrador, Prince Edward Island and New Brunswick.

Provincially, Saskatchewan and Alberta had the highest firearm-related homicide rates; Nova Scotia, due to Halifax's high numbers, had the highest rate of robbery committed with a gun.

The Statistics Canada report notes that guns account for only 2.4 per cent of all violent victimizations. Clubs and other blunt objects are higher with three per cent, and knives make up more than double that with 6.2 per cent.

In 2006, police reported 190 homicides committed by a firearm, 33 fewer than the previous year.

From the 1970s to the 1990s, the rate of gun-related homicide fell, largely due to killings involving rifles and shotguns dropping, Statistics Canada says.