Most crime guns traced by RCMP came from within Canada, internal reports say

OTTAWA — The vast majority of crime guns traced by the RCMP to identifiable sources in 2023 and 2024 came from within Canada and were not smuggled from abroad, say internal reports prepared by the national police force.

The analyses found almost all of the long guns traced — and a substantial number of the handguns — were domestically sourced.

The figures, the latest available from the RCMP, provide new insights into the origins of firearms involved in crimes ranging from break and enter to homicide.

The Canadian Press used the Access to Information Act to obtain the May 2024 and September 2025 reports by the RCMP’s Canadian National Firearms Tracing Centre and the force’s Criminal Firearms Strategic and Operational Support Services.

Some parts of the reports were considered too sensitive to release.

In 2024, the RCMP centre completed 6,951 firearm traces. Of these, 4,197 were identified as crime guns — 2,814 of which had a known source.

The centre reports that 71 per cent of those firearms traced in 2024 were domestically sourced long guns, 17 per cent were smuggled handguns, nine per cent were domestically sourced handguns and two per cent were smuggled long guns. A small number of firearms were not categorized as either long guns or handguns.

Sixty-seven of the crime gun traces in 2024 turned up privately manufactured firearms, sometimes called homemade “ghost guns.”

Among the completed firearm traces where the source of the firearm and its type of action were known, semi-automatics were found to be the most common.

The RCMP centre defines crime guns as firearms that were used or suspected to have been used in criminal offences, guns whose serial numbers have been obliterated or altered, firearms that were found but not reported lost or stolen, and replicas, toys, 3D-printed guns, pellet or air guns that have been used in criminal offences.

Of the crime gun traces completed in 2024, four per cent had a link to organized crime, such as outlaw motorcycle gangs, street gangs and traditional organized crime. Of these 184 firearms, 147 were domestically sourced and 37 were smuggled.

The RCMP’s May 2024 report says that of the crime gun traces in 2023 where the firearm’s source could be identified, 86 per cent were deemed to have been domestically sourced and 14 per cent were smuggled.

The reports point out that the analyses, which include only traces by the RCMP centre, are not representative of the total number of gun traces in Ontario and Quebec — provinces that have their own tracing agencies.

Since May 2020, the federal government has outlawed about 2,500 types of firearms, including the AR-15 and Ruger Mini-14. Ottawa says these firearms belong only on the battlefield and are not suitable for hunting or sport shooting.

The government has initiated a program to compensate firearm owners for turning in or deactivating banned guns.

The Conservative party and some firearm owners have characterized the bans and buyback program as a wasteful exercise that targets law-abiding citizens. Some critics of the effort have urged Ottawa to focus instead on preventing guns from being smuggled into Canada from the United States.

The RCMP figures help paint a broader picture of crime guns in Canada that goes beyond high-profile shootings in urban centres, said Blake Brown, a historian at Saint Mary’s University in Halifax who has authored a history of gun control in Canada.

“I think it highlights the extent to which domestic firearms are often used in crimes across the country,” Brown said in an interview.

“You’re probably seeing a lot of incidents where these guns are being used in rural areas, particularly, and a lot of those guns … they’re not handguns flowing into Toronto across the border, they’re long guns that are owned by large swaths of people in rural parts of Canada.”

The RCMP declined to comment on how the force’s findings align with the widespread belief that crime guns generally flow into Canada from south of the border.

“The Canadian Firearms Program’s role is to provide information regarding its mandate and activities and does not extend to commenting on public perceptions or speculation,” said Marie-Eve Breton, an RCMP spokeswoman.

Breton said the RCMP’s 2026 report, based on 2025 tracing figures, is not yet complete.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 11, 2026.

Jim Bronskill, The Canadian Press