Police recognize increase in gun activity in Hamilton

Hamilton Police say they are seeing an increased number of guns and shooting incidents on city streets this year compared to last year.

Hamilton has seen a 29 per cent rise in shootings from this time last year, with 228 total guns seized.

This is up from 224 in 2021, 185 in 2020 and 190 in 2019. Many of the guns recovered have been linked to serious crimes across the GTA.

Deputy Chief Ryan Diodati said that while the majority of firearm-related incidents are targeted, it does not lessen the threat to the public.

“The increase in firearms is a shocking trend that we continue to see year over year,” Diodati said. “I fear that one of these shootings will end with an innocent bystander struck by a stray bullet.”

In the past seven days alone, police say they have seized four different guns. On Nov. 7, a semi-automatic firearm was recovered during a traffic stop and two other loaded firearms were found in a vehicle after two suspects were arrested for a shooting on Minto Avenue.

“In the beginning of my career, finding a gun during a traffic stop was an anomaly,” Diodati said. “Now we are regularly recovering guns during routine traffic stops.”

To date, there have been 36 shootings in Hamilton with 13 victims. Police are seeing a number of individuals charged with repeated firearm-related offences. In 2021, 16 per cent of suspects charged with a firearm offence had faced previous charges for the same crime.

“Creating a safer Hamilton will take an effort from everyone. These increases in guns and shootings should be a concern