Excerpt from Statistics Canada http://www.statcan.gc.ca/pub/85-002-x/2014001/article/11925-eng.htm#a1
Most violent crime in Canada does not involve firearms.
Firearms are present in a relatively small proportion of all police reported violent crime in reporting provinces and territories. Excluding Quebec, police reported approximately 5,600 victims of violent crime where a firearm was present in 2012, a rate of 21 victims for every 100,000 population (Table1A). In comparison, the rate of victims of non-firearm related violent crime was about 49 times higher, at 1,033 victims per 100,000 population.
Firearm related violent crime accounted for 2% of all victims of violent crime in 2012, a proportion that has remained stable over the past four years. For the large majority (81%) of victims of violent crime, there was no weapon present during the commission of the offense. A weapon other than a firearm, such as a knife or blunt instrument, was present in 17% of violent offenses.
Although violent crime is generally decreasing, the rate of firearm related violent crime is decreasing at a faster pace than violent crime that does not involve firearms. There were about 1,800 fewer victims of firearm related violent crime in 2012 than there were in 2009, resulting in a 27% decrease in the rate of firearm related violent crime (Chart 1).Since 2009,the rate of violent of fences involving other weapons has decreased 9%, while the rate of offenses involving the use of force, threat, or no weapon has decreased 14%.
