"In the Annual Report to the Chief Coroner of Ontario, the Domestic Violence Death Review Committee detailed the following risk factors that they deemed to be a common thread in their findings: history of violence outside of the family by perpetrator;

Prior history of domestic violence; pending or actual separation or estrangement;

Obsessive behaviour displayed by perpetrator; perpetrator depressed in the opinions of professionals and/or non-professionals;

Escalation of violence; prior threats of suicide or attempted suicide; prior threats to kill victim;

Prior attempts to isolate victim;

Victim had intuitive sense of fear; history of violence outside the family; perpetrator was unemployed; and possession of or access to firearms."

https://www.blueline.ca/firearm-access-by-at-risk-people/

Firearms do not belong in the hands of “at risk” people and firearms should not be in the homes where “at risk” people are residing.

Too often officers are attending firearms calls where an “at risk” family member has gained access to the gun owner’s firearm.

In Canada, we are working not to control gun ownership, but to ensure guns are owned in safety.

It is not necessary for law enforcement to diagnose the mental state of a person; the focus is more on the observable behaviors and related risk factors.

Police must be trained to ‘detect’ behaviour, not to ‘diagnose’ behaviour, and the focus should be on externalizing disorders and the more obvious symptoms associated with mental disorder.