Firearms trafficking in Quebec: Not just the business of organized crime

Contrary to popular belief, Quebec's illegal firearms trade isn't driven by organized crime syndicates. Rather, opportunistic individuals and savvy private manufacturers seem to be behind most transactions.

This is one of the findings of a research project led by Professor Étienne Blais and David Décary-Hétu from the Université de Montréal's School of Criminology, as well as Benoît Leclerc of the Griffith Criminology Institute in Australia.

The study, which was published in the November/December issue of the Journal of Criminal Justice, involved an analysis of 76 Sûreté du Québec investigations conducted mainly between 2010 and 2020. The authors used a script analysis to study every step of the illicit firearms trade, from manufacturing through to final sale. They drew on various sources of information included in the police investigation files, such as incident reports, statement transcripts, surveillance reports and seizure forms.

The trafficking process generally follows six distinct stages: preparation (including obtaining licences and training), acquisition of firearms (through legal or illegal purchase, theft or fabrication), storage of firearms, search for customers, transaction and exit.

One trend highlighted by the study is that cases of privately manufactured weapons are on the rise. Traffickers are remarkably resourceful. Some even train as machinists and legally purchase the materials and equipment—like steel sheets, metal tubes, hydraulic presses and 3D printers—needed to produce weapons in their basements or garages.

The documented transactions show a wide variety of firearms being sold: 76 long guns, 43 handguns, 9 automatic or other types of banned weapons, and 52 homemade weapons. Ammunition was involved in 18 cases. Similarly, most transactions (84%) involved two weapons or less, suggesting that activity was generally small-scale and unconcentrated.

Large-scale trafficking, which made up 21% of the investigated cases, typically involved more elaborate planning, several people, including the systematic use of intermediaries, and multiple sources of goods.

Contrary to common fears, arms trafficking in Quebec doesn't occur predominantly on the Dark Web. Researchers found that dealers mostly stayed away from these platforms because of poor profitability and heavy police monitoring.

"Traffickers use a wide variety of sales tactics, many of which are quite clever," said Blais. "Some keep an eye out at shooting clubs to see what kinds of guns people order, while others exploit differences in provincial legislation — like the lack of a firearms registry in Ontario that makes it harder to track gun sales."

The study, which was financed by Quebec's public safety agency, the Ministère de la Sécurité publique, also revealed that sales aren't limited to illegal weapons. Some involve non-restricted rifles that were once bought legally, but end up being traded for other goods when their owners pass away.

The authors of the study proposed a number of recommendations, focusing more on preventive measures than coercive ones. These included tighter controls on the tools and materials used to make weapons, as well as increased training for legal arms dealers on how to spot suspicious transactions.

They also concluded that provincial gun registries should be standardized and aligned to close loopholes. "This would make it harder for the traffickers who currently take advantage of regulatory differences between the provinces," explained Blais. "We also need to step up coordination between key actors, like police departments, border control authorities, legal arms dealers, insurers and communities. We need them to work together to monitor suspicious transactions and increase public awareness."