Firearm Statistics: Updated Table

PART I: NATIONAL DATA

Table 19. Homicidal Deaths and Suicides Involving Firearms, 1970–2001
Number (by type) and Percentage of All Homicidal Deaths and Suicides [1]
Homicidal Deaths Suicides
YEAR All Firearm Firearm as % of All Homicidal Deaths All Firearm Firearm as % of All Suicides
1970 421 184 43.7 2,413 796 33.0
1971 458 190 41.5 2,559 924 36.1
1972 505 203 40.2 2,657 935 35.2
1973 529 213 40.3 2,773 950 34.3
1974 543 269 49.5 2,902 1,021 35.2
1975 604 263 43.5 2,808 1,053 37.5
1976 556 220 39.6 2,935 1,095 37.3
1977 597 229 38.4 3,317 1,271 38.3
1978 570 229 40.2 3,475 1,287 37.0
1979 583 183 31.4 3,357 1,098 32.7
1980 495 184 37.2 3,358 1,119 33.3
1981 560 180 32.1 3,403 1,171 34.4
1982 592 213 36.0 3,523 1,197 34.0
1983 592 197 33.3 3,755 1,235 32.9
1984 580 214 36.9 3,440 1,050 30.5
1985 537 179 33.3 3,259 1,038 31.9
1986 513 170 33.1 3,670 1,185 32.3
1987 565 187 33.1 3,594 1,124 31.3
1988 487 151 31.0 3,510 1,067 30.4
1989 552 195 35.3 3,492 1,076 30.8
1990 554 182 32.9 3,379 1,054 31.2
1991 622 240 38.6 3,593 1,109 30.9
1992 597 214 35.8 3,709 1,048 28.3
1993 526 173 32.9 3,803 1,053 27.7
1994 498 170 34.1 3,749 973 26.0
1995 489 145 29.7 3,970 911 22.9
1996 511 177 34.6 3,941 881 22.4
1997 431 156 36.2 3,681 815 22.1
1998 467 129 27.6 3,699 816 22.1
1999 462 151 32.7 4,074 802 19.7
2000 463 156 33.7 3,605 685 19.0
2001 463 148 32.0 3,688 651 17.7

SOURCE: Statistics Canada: Causes of Death (Catalogue 84-208)

[1] The data in this table are based on provincial death registrations as reported by coroners and doctors. Because coroners and doctors are normally more reluctant to classify a death as homicide than the police, numbers for homicides in this table are, in most cases, lower than the numbers in Table 10.