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VOTE: Are you concerned about gun violence in your city?

Two men have died, and a woman was rushed to hospital with serious injuries after a shooting inside the CUBE night club on Queen Street West, west of Peter Street, in Toronto on Saturday June 30, 2018. Victor Biro via ZUMA Wire/The Canadian Press
Two men have died, and a woman was rushed to hospital with serious injuries after a shooting inside the CUBE night club on Queen Street West, west of Peter Street, in Toronto on Saturday June 30, 2018. Victor Biro via ZUMA Wire/The Canadian Press

According to Statistics Canada, firearm-related crime is on the rise across Canada. The 2016 data shows that while this particular type of crime is increasing, overall police-reported violent has declined nationally.

Saskatchewan has the highest provincial rate of gun violence, with 56 victims per 100,000 people. In Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Alberta and Ontario, gun-related incidents accounted for three per cent of all police-reported violent crimes.

According to Statistics Canada, in 2016 there were over 7,000 victims of violent crime nationally where a firearm was present. The resulted in a rate of 25 victims of firearm-related violent crime for every 100,000 Canadians. This rate is 33 per cent higher than the previous 2013 report.

The data also shows that 60 per cent of these crimes across Canada involved handguns, followed by rifles or shot guns accounting for 18 per cent of gun-related violent crimes.

Toronto in particular has seen a significant increase in gun-related violence recently. In 2018 alone, 22 gun-related incidents have taken the lives of individuals in the city.

Eleven people have been shot in Toronto since the end of June. Most recently, a man was injured in an apparent drive-by shooting on the morning of July 3, 2018.

Toronto Mayor John Tory and the city’s police Chief Mark Saunders have both attributed the majority of the shootings this year to gang-related incidents.

“Those who are on bail already and are found in possession of a handgun or committing a crime with a handgun (and) those who have been convicted previously of a handgun offence who are found in possession of a handgun should not be given bail,” Tory said, according to The Canadian Press.

Given the increase in gun-related violence Canadians are seeing across the country, are you concerned about gun violence in your city?

Vote in the poll above and leave your thoughts in the comments below!