Canada’s Gun Deaths Creeping Up

Growing up in Canada, I’ve always known there to be a relatively high rate of gun ownership.  Living in a vast country with a lot of wilderness, a weapon is necessary in Northern communities or on most farms.  Even as close as our farm is to civilisation, it is known to have a bear or two, and certainly coyotes and other wildlife, regularly in the area. For the most part, I’ve always believed those guns weren’t likely to be aimed at people.

What surprised me in this excellent infographic, was how much higher our rate of deaths by guns is than similar countries like New Zealand, Australia, and Sweden.

Sure the US figures are so horrifying it is easy to miss the statistics for the rest of the world, but Canada is on the wrong side of the trajectory for number of guns opened versus number of deaths. It gives one pause, and makes me wonder what steps would be needed to drop those levels down to those of NZ or Scandanavia.