Poly Group Pays for Poll to Ban ‘Semi-Auto Assault Weapons’

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Canada Ban Assault Sport Rifles
Screenshot: iPolitics.ca

TheGunBlog.ca — PolyRemembers paid for a Canada-wide survey to promote gun bans as the government drafts new firearm laws.

The poll found 81 percent of 1,510 respondents, including 98 gun owners, favour prohibitions on the private ownership of self-loading rifles that it called “semi-automatic assault weapons.”

The anti-gun group said today on its website that it hired Environics Research to run the online survey on March 5-8. Montreal-based Poly, which is supported by the prime minister, started a campaign on March 2 to raise $4,000 for a poll “to prove to politicians that a ban on assault weapons is a popular measure.”

Many of the world’s most popular self-loading rifles and handguns are already banned in Canada.

The legal ownership of approved firearms is tightly regulated under the authority of the national police, and the country’s 2 million approved gun owners are subjected to daily background checks by the national police. Even so, the government is about to propose a new law to further hinder the import, purchase and use of firearms.

The survey results showed 159 respondents own at least one gun, and 100 said someone in their home owns at least one. Of the 159 direct owners, 98 said they either “strongly agree” or “somewhat agree” with the following:

Question 1: Most of the recent mass killings in the U.S. were committed with the help of military-style semi-automatic assault rifles, generally called “assault weapons.” This same type of weapon is also legal in Canada.

To what extent do you agree or disagree with the following statement: “Private ownership of semi-automatic assault weapons for recreational purposes should not be legal in Canada.”?

We can scream #FakePoll, accuse the Poly people of spreading misinformation, dispute the term “assault weapon,” and blame a handful of old hunters for backstabbing their brothers who like AR-15 rifles. All valid.

What do we do about it?

  • Ignore the gun banners and hope they’ll give up?
  • How can the millions of Canadians who safely, legally and responsibly use firearms get a strong voice to present our common interests?
  • Can/should the country’s gun-rights groups work together, or do we need some other organization or platform to help gun owners unite?
  • Can we do it before it’s too late?

TheGunBlog.ca is working on these issues.

The most important part of gun rights isn’t “gun,” it’s “rights.”

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