Cops say the tide of illegal guns, mostly from the U.S., fuelling Toronto's gun violence surge
Cops: "We cannot continue to have young boys victimized by this gun violence"
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A ‘tide’ of illegal guns flowing across the border from the United States is fuelling gun violence in the city, according to Toronto Police.
An update on the challenge those guns pose came as police announced the arrest of a 13-year-old boy in connection with the city’s eighth murder of the year – a 15-year-old.
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“It is a sad an unfortunate example of the proliferation of handguns in our city,” Staff Superintendent Lauren Pogue told reporters outside Police Headquarters as she spoke about the shooting Wednesday night.
“Our firearms investigators will be relentless in their efforts to determine the origin of these firearms involved.”
Two handguns and ammunition were seized.
The ‘proliferation’ that police have described is having deadly results very early in the new year.
Almost all of the eight homicide victims have been shot to death.
Although shooting deaths and shooting incidents have been trending down, there have been 179 people killed by guns since 2018.
The flow of guns into Toronto has been a problem for years.
“We are doing what we can to stem this tide,” Staff Supt. Pogue said.
“We will do this because we cannot continue to have young boys victimized by this gun violence.”
Eight centralized teams investigate all firearms discharges in the city.
Staff Supt. Pogue did not have a breakdown of where seized weapons have come from, but said “the majority of them are illegal firearms. They are not firearms that are in the possession of authorized owners.”
Adding that “it is only one part of this disturbing increase in gun violence we have seen over the past several months.”
Police say they are also grappling with gang activity, organized crime, and the flow of illicit drugs.
In his year-end interview with the Sun in December, Police Chief James Ramer highlighted illegal guns as “a significant problem.”
“We believe the vast majority of them are coming hidden in vehicles across the border. Organized crime and the gangs are complicit in this. It’s a priority for them to move them into this country. And it is a significant problem.”
Staff Supt. Pogue echoed that view Friday.
“It has been our experience that the majority of firearms we are seizing in the city have come from across the border,” she said.
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