‘Alarming Increase’: Peel Police Seize Record Number of Illegal Guns in 2024

Peel Regional Police Chief Duraiappah speaks at a press conference on Dec. 17, 2024. Courtesy of Peel Regional Police

A region of Ontario recently rocked by gun violence saw an “alarming increase” in firearms seizures this year, amounting to an all-time high in the region, police say.

Peel Regional Police (PRP) announced on Dec. 17 they had removed 53 illegal gun from the streets this year, which is more than double the number of illegal firearms seized the previous year, and more than triple compared to 2022.

Peel is a regional municipality in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA), encompassing Brampton, Mississauga, and Caledon.

Peel police rolled out their Strategic and Tactical Enforcement Policing (STEP) initiative in 2007 as part of the specialized enforcement bureau with a focus on reducing gun and gang violence in the Peel Region. This year, STEP seized a total of 53 illegal firearms, 63 magazines, and 915 rounds of ammunition, according to a Peel police press release.

Officers noted 41 of the 53 guns seized traced back to the U.S., while the remaining 12 are still being analyzed.

The STEP seizures amounted to only a quarter of the the total number of illegal guns seized by Peel police. The full number of firearms adds up to 205 this year to date—up from 143 in 2023. This “unprecedented year” also included the largest single cache seized in the service’s history: 71 guns found in June as part of a firearms trafficking investigation, the release said.

Peel police Chief Nishan Duraiappah noted in the release that there were 147 shootings in Peel this year—a 72 percent increase from 2023.

Seized illegal firearms are displayed during a Peel Regional Police press conference  on Dec. 17, 2024. Courtesy of Peel Regional Police

“On average, we are seeing an illegal firearm seized by our officers every 36 hours,” PRP Chief Duraiappah said.

In all, the STEP team’s seizures were connected to 50 arrests, 461 criminal code charges, and 40 drug-related offences. Police noted that 25 of those charged were released, 15 were already in court, and 31 had previous conditions.

“The alarming increase of illegal firearms in our communities is a serious risk to public safety, and I want to commend our officers for their continued efforts to remove more and more of these weapons from our streets,” Duraiappah said in the release.

The spike in gun crimes were not isolated to the Peel region. The GTA as a whole has seen similar increases in both gun and gang violence as well as seizures of illegal firearms.

In June, Toronto Police Deputy Chief Rob Johnson announced the deployment of strategic resources to combat gun violence. City police noted at the time a nearly 74 percent hike in the number of shootings in 2024 compared to 2023 in the same period. In total, Toronto police seized 801 guns in 2023.

Ontario Solicitor General Michael Kerzner stood alongside Chief Duraiappah at a press conference in Mississauga on Dec. 17 to call on the federal government to improve border security in order to stem the flow of illegal guns into the province.

“Step up your measures at the border. Make the investments you need to make so that these illegal guns don’t find their way back here,” Kerzner said.