Majority would back gun ban in urban areas, poll finds
NO ‘MOON SHOT’
OTTAWA • The vast majority of Canadians favours a total ban on guns in urban areas, a new poll suggests.
According to the poll, conducted by Ekos Research Associates for The Canadian Press, 69 per cent of those surveyed agreed with the statement “I think that there should be a strict ban on guns in urban areas.”
Support was highest in Quebec at 76 per cent and lowest in Alberta at 48 per cent.
The federal Liberals are currently at work on legislation to follow through on campaign commitments to tighten up gun restrictions, though it now seems unlikely a new bill will be introduced before the end of the year.
Liberal plans don’t involve any kind of total ban and no political party has ever suggested the idea, said Ekos president Frank Graves. But widespread support for the concept suggests there’s room to simply stop tinkering with existing gun laws and put in place something more ambitious, he said.
“I’m not saying the operationalization wouldn’t be complex, but this isn’t a moon shot and it’s been done in other jurisdictions,” Graves said.
Guns are not involved in the vast majority of crimes in Canada, but there have been increases in gun-related violence. Statistics released last month showed 2016 was the first time since 2012 that shootings were the most common method of homicide in Canada. Statistics Canada also reported 2016 was the third year in a row the number of firearm-related homicides rose.
The agency also reported last month that 587 people took their own lives with the use of a firearm in 2014, up from 544 the year before.
A standard response to why government doesn’t go further to crack down on guns is politics and the perception that urban Canadians view the issue far differently than rural dwellers, who use guns to hunt for food or protect themselves in remote regions beyond the every day reach of law enforcement.
The political divide has played itself out repeatedly during national debates on gun control. In 2011, two NDP MPs from Thunder Bay, Ont., were disciplined when they broke ranks and voted in favour of the Conservative government’s legislation to repeal the gun registry.
During the Conservative leadership race earlier this year, several candidates actively courted firearms enthusiasts.
But the Ekos survey suggests there’s support across the political spectrum for restrictions that are limited to urban areas — 86 per cent of respondents who identified themselves as Liberals, 56 per cent of Conservatives and 75 per cent of New Democrats backed an urban ban.
The automated land line and cellphone survey of 2,287 Canadians was carried out Nov. 10-30 and is considered accurate within 2.1 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.