VANCOUVER -- Metro Vancouver has the highest rate of gun-related violent crime of any major metropolitan region in Canada, according to a new Statistics Canada study.

There were 45.3 violent offences involving guns for every 100,000 people in Metro Vancouver, slightly higher than Toronto at 40.4 but far above the national average of 27.5, says the report, which is based on police-reported data from 2006.

But gun violence in Vancouver was far behind that in Toronto and Montreal when population size wasn't considered. A total of 1,993 people in Toronto were victims of a violent firearm-related crime in 2006, about one-quarter of the national total. Montreal was second with 1,291 and Vancouver was third with 455. (The data for attempted murder and total violent crime in Metro Vancouver represent 46 per cent of the population, covering police forces in Vancouver, Richmond, Delta, New Westminster, West Vancouver and Port Moody.)

Vancouver's high rate of crime per capita didn't surprise Eileen Mohan, mother of Chris Mohan, 22, who was one of the innocent bystanders murdered in a mass slaying in Surrey last October.

"Crime here is out of control," said Mohan, adding that the names of known criminals should be made public so that people can protect themselves.

"They took my son's life. These criminals were known to the police and they should have been known to us, too. I would have moved out had I known there were gangsters in my building and today my son would be alive."

While targeted shootings and gang-related activity in Vancouver have dominated headlines in recent years, the biggest factor in the region's high rate of reported violent crime was a high incidence of robbery, said Irwin Cohen, a criminologist at the University College of the Fraser Valley.

"So our numbers are very much driven up by robberies," said Cohen.

Darryl Plecas, another criminologist at the University College of the Fraser Valley, linked Vancouver's high rate of violent crime, especially robberies, to the size of its drug-addict population.

Addictions lead to spur-of-the-moment robberies, said Plecas.

"When there is so much crack cocaine available, you should expect that there will be more individuals who need it now."

Vancouver police Const. Tim Fanning said the figures from Statistics Canada give new urgency to the department's strategy of searching for guns on identified organized crime members.

"The recent high-profile shootings have really raised awareness that there are more guns out there than ever before," said Fanning.

Fanning said the VPD's Firearms Interdiction Team is identifying known gang members and searching for weapons. And that strategy is being applied regionally through the Integrated Gang Task Force.

He said the Canada Border Services Agency needs to expand the number of officers dedicated to searching for arms. About 90 per cent of guns coming into Canada are from the U.S., he added.

He also said  there should be minimum sentences for people charging with using guns illegally.

Vancouver Mayor Sam Sullivan said although it's unacceptable that Vancouver has such a high rate of gun violence, it's a phenomenon being faced across the continent as the illegal drug trade escalates.

He said Vancouver is generally safe for the average citizen, but: "If you're involved in the illegal drug trade it's very unsafe."

Sullivan maintains the City of Vancouver is tackling the issue, with the Firearms Interdiction Team getting more guns off the streets and a chronic addiction substance treatment program that is expected to put up to 400 drug dealers out of business by putting a dent in their profits. Other measures that will help are boosting police staffing and improving social housing for the mentally ill.

But he said boosting police forces will only work with the other measures in place. He said Chicago, which has 14,000 police officers to Vancouver's 1,250, has "open warfare" in some neighbourhoods.

"Currently, Vancouver has twice as many police per capital than neighbouring regional municipalities," he said. "It's important and it helps and we must invest in our police department but I also know from visiting 35 other mayors that it certainly is not the only answer."

Meanwhile, according to the Statistics Canada study, the rate of gun crimes in Canada remained steady for the fourth straight year but the number of young people using guns in violent crimes is still on the rise.

Police reported data from 2006 indicate that the number of youth aged 12 to 17 accused of gun-related crimes has risen in three of the previous four years, said the report. Since 2002, the rate has shot up 32 per cent.

Overall, police reported just over 8,100 victims of violent gun crimes in 2006, ranging from assault to homicide. In nearly two-thirds of the reported crimes, the firearm of choice was a handgun.

But guns were not the instruments used most often in violent crimes, the data showed. Knives accounted for 6.2 per cent of violent victimizations, while clubs or other blunt objects accounted for three per cent and firearms made up 2.4 per cent.

As with the overall gun crime trend, Statistics Canada did not report any notable increases in the use of guns in major crime categories.

"Not only has the overall firearm-related violent crime rate remained stable in recent years, but the use of firearms to commit specific violent offences, such as homicide, attempted murder, robbery, forcible confinement and assault, has also remained stable when compared to previous years," the report said.

Police reported 190 homicides committed with a firearm in 2006, a 33-per-cent drop from the previous year.

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