A ‘staggering’ 205 illegal guns seized by police in Mississauga and Brampton in 2024

A specialized unit of police officers tasked to get illegal guns off the streets and arrest violent criminals in Mississauga and Brampton seized a record number of firearms this year, the busts accounting for roughly one-quarter of all such weapons recovered by cops in Peel.

The 16 members of the Strategic and Tactical Enforcement Policing team — known as the STEP unit — seized 53 illegal guns across the region in 2024 and made 50 arrests, Peel Regional Police said at a noon hour press conference in Mississauga.

In total, Peel police say they recovered a “staggering” 205 illegal guns this year (one every 36 hours, police brass note), an increase of more than 60 from 2023. The guns were connected to 147 shootings in 2024, a 72 per cent hike from the previous year.

Peel police Chief Nishan Duraiappah said the 53 guns taken off the street by the STEP team, whose officers work undercover in many cases, is more than double the number the unit seized last year and triple the number of guns taken out of criminals’ hands by STEP in 2022.

Furthermore, police noted, 41 of those guns are known to have been smuggled into Ontario from the U.S. while the majority of the remaining dozen were also most likely brought to Peel in the same manner.

Illegal guns brought to the region are then used in the fast-growing number of violent crimes in Mississauga and Brampton such as home invasions, carjackings and robberies, Duraiappah said.

He added Peel has seen a 300 per cent increase in home invasions in 2024 compared to last year while carjackings are up 80 per cent and shootings up by 72 per cent.

The guns “are tools for violence that lead to devastating consequences,” the police chief said, noting rising gun violence isn’t only a problem in Peel, but across the GTA and Ontario as well.

Peel police Deputy Chief Nick Milinovich applauded the work of the STEP team, which he said is mandated to go out on the streets “and look for people in possession of illegal firearms.

“Their main goal,” he continued, “is to seize those illegal firearms and arrest the violent repeat offenders who are possessing them.”

Pointing to the 53 seized guns displayed before him, Milinovich said “there is absolutely no doubt that every one of these firearms would’ve been used to harm our community and the fact they sit here before us prevents that from occurring.”

Also of concern — and frustration — to Peel police, the deputy chief added, is that of the 50 people arrested and charged by the STEP team this year, 25 are now out on bail.

Earlier this fall, Duraiappah said gun violence in Mississauga and Brampton is at an all-time high in the wake of 46 shootings in July and August alone in which 19 people were injured and one killed.

The police chief said at the time officers within his ranks seize, on average, one illegal gun every 36 hours. Illegal firearms, he added, are used in the commission of many different crimes including targeted shootings, carjackings, extortions, home invasion and other robberies, and gang violence.

“We’ve seen a concerning rise in the number of illegal firearms in our region leading to more gun violence than we’ve ever seen. This is not just an issue affecting Peel, but it’s a trend right across the Greater Toronto Area and beyond,” Duraiappah said.

In July, Peel police revealed details of a largest-ever bust in which 69 of 71 guns — 67 handguns, four assault-style rifles — that were confiscated had been smuggled into Ontario from the U.S. Investigators said at the time they believed the weapons were destined for use in home invasions, carjackings and other violent crimes in Mississauga, Brampton and across the GTA.

Peel police also noted earlier that nearly 100 per cent of carjackings and home invasions in Peel are carried out using illegal guns that have been smuggled into Canada from south of the border.