Guns in Windsor-Essex: what the numbers show

Guns in Windsor-Essex: mixed signals. StatCan: Windsor-area firearm-related violent crimes rose to 156 in 2024, from 108. Windsor Police: crime guns down 9% in 2025. CBSA: 150 guns seized at the bridge and tunnel, Jan to Oct 2025.

By Kyle L. Stewart | Published Oct. 24, 2026, 8:10 p.m. ET | Windsor, Ontario

Topics: Public safety Roads and transit

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Statistics Canada, Windsor Police and the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) each publish numbers on guns. They do not all point the same way, and none of them counts how many illegal guns are in Windsor-Essex.

Crimes reported to police

Statistics Canada says police in the Windsor census metropolitan area reported 156 firearm-related violent crimes in 2024, up from 108 in 2023. That is a rate of 34.9 per 100,000 people, compared with 32.3 for Ontario. The agency counts incidents where police found a firearm relevant to a violent crime, including air guns and BB guns used in a threatening way. The area's average yearly rate from 2014 to 2023 was 25.0.

Guns police took in

Windsor Police's 2025 annual report lists 61 "crime guns," which is 9% fewer than in 2024. The report says it uses Statistics Canada's definition, which covers a firearm used or suspected of use in a crime or one with an altered serial number. The report also lists 617 firearms seized, but says that figure covers only the Drugs and Guns Enforcement Unit.

At the border

The CBSA says officers at the Ambassador Bridge and the Windsor-Detroit Tunnel seized 150 firearms from Jan. 1 to Oct. 31, 2025. On July 15, 2026, CBSA investigators, with the RCMP and OPP, searched properties in Essex County and seized 53 firearms, including six handguns and two sub-machine guns. Frank Charette, 60, of Cottam, is charged with 10 offences and is due in Windsor court on Nov. 16, the CBSA says. The charges have not been proven in court.

Recent cases

Police in the area have announced firearms charges this year in several communities. Each case is a separate allegation, and none of the charges has been proven in court.

Tecumseh (May 22): Windsor Police charged Andrew Vincent Bastien, 41, and Angela Jill Simic, 40, after a search that police say turned up three loaded handguns.

Leamington (Aug. 26): Essex County OPP charged Izaiah Drew, 33, of Lakeshore, Araea Tice, 18, of Windsor, and Fernando Ratcliffe, 26, of Windsor, with firearms offences after a traffic stop.

Windsor (Aug. 31): Windsor Police charged Justin Jariett, 41, and Brandon Malott, 32, with firearms offences after shots were fired near Victoria Ave. and Wyandotte St. W.

LaSalle (Oct. 20 to 22): LaSalle Police charged Robert Stuparyk, 58, of LaSalle, with firearms offences after a standoff and search.

What is not known

No public figure shows the number of illegal guns in the area, and seizures can reflect police effort as well as supply.