Police say the Prairies are grappling with gun violence in part because some people with licences buy up weapons from sporting good stores in bulk and resell them to others.

Police refer to these as "straw purchasers" and say they are a key concern in rising shooting rates. Winnipeg Police Service Chief Danny Smyth says those rates have increased by 66 per cent over the past four years in Winnipeg. He released the numbers to media on Friday.

They also cited criminals involved in manufacturing homemade guns and altering guns.

Last year there were 94 shootings in the city. That number is more than double the 2014 total.

During the first six months of this year, there have been 67 shootings. 

In July the Winnipeg Police Service arrested a 45-year-old St. Boniface man for buying guns and then transferring them to others illegally.