Record number of illegal guns seized in Mississauga, Brampton: police

Police say they’ve seized a record number of illegal guns this year in Mississauga and Brampton as violence connected to firearms — the majority brought in from the U.S. — continues to plague Peel’s two cities.

Peel Regional Police say they’ll reveal exactly how many illegal firearms they’ve recovered so far in 2024 at a press conference Tuesday at noon in Mississauga.

In announcing the media gathering, police said a specialized team of officers that focuses on gangs and guns took possession of a “record number of illegal firearms in 2024.” The Strategic and Tactical Enforcement Policing team is directed to reduce gun and gang violence in Mississauga and Brampton.

In addition to Peel police brass, including Chief Nishan Duraiappah, Ontario Solicitor General Michael Kerzner and others are expected to attend Tuesday’s press conference.

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 a two-minute video posted to social media in October (see link below).

The region’s highest-ranking police officer added that in those 46 summer shootings, 28 people were arrested and 51 guns seized, “40 of which were illegal firearms in the hands of criminals.”

Police also said earlier the number of firearm seizures across the region is significantly up from 2023.

Numbers show that between January and September 2023, officers in Mississauga and Brampton seized 84 illegal firearms. During the same period this year, 157 illegal guns — an 86 per cent increase — were grabbed by cops.

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.

(Cover photo: Peel Regional Police files)