TheGunBlog.ca — Following are key points from a survey this year of Canadian gun owners by Environics Research Group.
- The country’s Liberal Party-led administration bought the survey to advance its failing gun confiscations.
- The Environics report was delivered in March 2023 and made public this week.
- Blacklock’s Reporter reported some survey findings earlier today.
Survey Snapshot
- Contract Name: Buyback Program Awareness Campaign: Final Report
- By: Environics Research Group
- For: Canada’s Department of Public Safety (which is overseeing the confiscation effort)
- Survey Method: 15-Minute Online Survey of Self-Selected Gun Owners (Non-Random)
- Number of Gun Owners Who Responded: 2,000
- Contract Date: 01 September 2022
- Final Report: 31 March 2023
- Cost: $158,856.08
Comment
- We’re skeptical of the accuracy of some responses.
- We still find the responses offer interesting trend indicators.
Highlights
1. Self-Defence Is a Main Reason to Own Guns
- It’s time for anti-gun activists to stop spreading the lie that having firearms and ammo for self-defence is unlawful, or that self-defence is unCanadian.
2. Own More Than 5 Guns? You’re In the Top 7%
- Maybe they meant: “How many firearm safes do you currently own?”
3. One-Fourth of Gun Owners Don’t Have a PAL
- Only 74% of gun owners have a valid, up-to-date PAL.
- More than 25% of gun owners: Expired PAL, never got a PAL, out of date info, etc.
- The licensing system has cost billions of dollars and is largely a failure.
4. One-Third of Gun Owners Are Targeted by the Liberal+RCMP Attacks
- Based on estimates of 3 million gun owners (with and without PAL), the confiscations could target 1 million adults, far higher than previously estimated.
5. More Gun Owners Are Refusing to Surrender Their Gear
- The percentage of respondents refusing to surrender their guns almost doubled from 2022 to 2023, from 7% to 12%.
- The percentage of respondents who agreed with the statement “Nothing would motivate me to participate” almost tripled from 2022 to 2023, from 7% to 20%.
6. Why Gun Owners Say ‘No’ to Confiscation
7. Some Gun Owners Are Anti-Gun
- 20% of gun owners believe owners of manual-action rifles and shotguns should be criminalized. Really?
Less than half of those owners with prohibited firearms would now willingly participate in a buyback program …
Environics Survey
8. Three Quotes
- “There has been a significant decline over the past year in the proportion of firearm owners who may own newly prohibited firearms who say they would willingly participate in a buyback program.” (Page 29)
- “Most firearm owners believe that almost all types of firearms should be legal in most cases. A plurality now believes that semi-automatic handguns should be illegal in all or most cases.” (Page 15)
- ”Most firearms owners had at least a passing familiarity with the ban …, however, those who used their guns infrequently were less likely to know about these regulatory changes.” (Page iv)
9. Liberals Are Preparing Misleading Ads
- The Liberals are preparing ads to deceive gun owners into believing the forced confiscations are a “buyback.”
Environics Survey Report (PDF)
Source: Publications Canada