Table 9
Characteristics of selected firearms-related cases, pre- and post-2008 mandatory minimum penalty (MMP) legislation

Table 9
Characteristics of selected firearms-related cases, pre- and post-2008 mandatory minimum penalty (MMP) legislation
Table summary
This table displays the results of Characteristics of selected firearms-related cases. The information is grouped by Characteristics of completed court cases (appearing as row headers), Firearms-related offences with amended MMP, Firearms-related offences with MMP unchanged, Pre-2008 and Post-2008, calculated using number and percent units of measure (appearing as column headers).
Characteristics of completed court cases Firearms-related offences with amended MMPTable 9 Note 1 Firearms-related offences with MMP unchangedTable 9 Note 2
Pre-2008Table 9 Note 3 Post-2008Table 9 Note 4 Pre-2008Table 9 Note 3 Post-2008Table 9 Note 4
number percent number percent number percent number percent
Number of charges per case
Total completed cases 905 100 812 100 1,349 100 1,606 100
Single charge 69 8 32 4 56 4 65 4
Multiple charges 836 92 780 96 1,293 96 1,541 96
Number of appearances in case
Total completed cases 905 100 812 100 1,349 100 1,606 100
1 or 2 appearances 100 11 35 4 117 9 52 3
3 to 5 appearances 129 14 63 8 252 19 221 14
6 to 10 appearances 249 28 183 23 398 30 510 32
Over 10 appearances 427 47 531 65 582 43 823 51
Case lengthTable 9 Note 5
Total completed cases 905 100 812 100 1,349 100 1,606 100
1 day 32 4 8 1 22 2 18 1
2 days to less than 2 months 134 15 72 9 188 14 168 10
2 to less than 4 months 138 15 94 12 197 15 216 13
4 to less than 8 months 277 31 187 23 375 28 397 25
8 to less than 12 months 146 16 176 22 273 20 324 20
1 year or longer 178 20 275 34 294 22 483 30
Note 1

Includes possession of prohibited firearm with ammunition (s. 95), weapons trafficking (s. 99), possession of weapons for trafficking (s. 100), and knowingly importing/exporting unauthorized weapon (s. 103). Some offences with mandatory minimum penalties (MMPs) subject to the 2008 legislation (s. 99, 100 and 103) may involve prohibited weapons for which there is no mandatory minimum penalty. MMPs were amended in 2008 to 3 years for a first offence and 5 years for a second offence where the weapon involved was a firearm, prohibited device or ammunition.

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Note 2

Includes use of a firearm in the commission of an indictable offence (s. 85), possession of a weapon obtained by crime (s. 96), and making an automatic firearm (s. 102). MMP introduced in 1995 was 1 year.

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Note 3

Pre-2008 selected cases: Date of offence and case completed between June 2, 2001 and the enactment of the 2008 MMPs (May 1, 2008).

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Note 4

Post-2008 selected cases: Date of offence and case completed between May 1, 2008 and March 31, 2015.

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Note 5

Case length is elapsed time between the first court appearance to the date of decision.

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Note: A case is one or more charges against an accused person or company that were processed by the courts at the same time and received a final decision. Cases that involve more than one charge are represented by the most serious offence. See "Methodology and data quality" for a description of case selection for the definition of time periods pre- and post- 2008 legislation. Excludes 56% of s. 99 and s. 102 offences and 33% of s. 95 offences where type of proceeding (summary or indictable) was not reported. Cases selected from adult criminal courts cases where case completion is between April 1, 2000 and March 31, 2015 for ten jurisdictions (excluding Manitoba, Northwest Territories and Nunavut) based on survey coverage. Data exclude information from superior courts in Prince Edward Island, Ontario, and Saskatchewan as well as municipal courts in Quebec due to the unavailability of data.
Source: Statistics Canada, Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics, Integrated Criminal Court Survey.
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