Two-thirds of Quebecers in favour of gun registry: survey

A new survey conducted for a gun-control advocacygroup suggests that two-thirds of Quebecers are in favour of the
registration of long guns.

Leger's poll for PolySeSouvient comes as provincial lawmakersstudy Bill 64, which, if passed, would create Canada's onlyprovincial long-gun registry.

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The survey, a copy of which was provided to The Canadian Press,found that 69 per cent of those polled were in favour of a registry,versus 26 per cent who were opposed. Five per cent had no opinion.

The online poll surveyed 1,004 Quebecers between April 15 andApril 17.

Respondents were asked: "Do you agree with the implementation ofa firearms registry (the registration of long guns) in Quebec so asto be able to link each weapon to its legal owner?"

The results, to be made public Wednesday, also found that 90 percent of Quebecers were in favour of an obligatory verification offirearms permits to ensure they are valid before a weapon is sold.

Proponents argued during recently concluded public hearings it is anecessary amendment

"There was more and more talk coming from the opponents (of theregistry) that the majority of Quebecers don't support
registration," said PolySeSouvient spokeswoman Heidi Rathjen.

"We wanted to get the latest measurements of public opinionregarding the registry in Quebec and one of the main amendments thathas been called for by us and expert groups is the mandatoryinspection of the permit at time of sale."

Political wedges and ideological divides

Quebec is looking to set up its own registry after the formerConservative government abolished the federal database fornon-restricted guns in 2012.

The province fought Ottawa in court to save the Quebec data,ultimately losing at the Supreme Court before moving forward on itsown last December.

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But the debate surrounding the Quebec bill has caused politicalwedges and ideological divides.

Grassroots opposition to the bill has emerged, with much of itcoming from hunters and sport shooters. They argue Canadianlicensing regulations are sufficient, while gun-control advocatescounter most Quebecers want a registry and that licences aren'tenough.

Rathjen says her goal is an effective registry minus"loopholes" and "grey areas."

'We're here to make sure the bill doesn't pass'

A spokesman forTous contre un registrequebecois des armes a feu, a grassrootsgroup against a Quebec firearms registry,says the poll results are not surprising given who commissioned thesurvey and the way the questions were asked.

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"But if we asked the questions in a different way looking atcost versus utility, for example it could completely change thoseresults," Guy Morin said.

"The survey at some level is leading,giving them the numbers they were looking for."

Some rural politicians have been targeted in the past becausemany voters in their ridings are opposed to the bill. There are alsoconcerns about the costs of the registry and Morin says the protestswill continue.

"We're here to make sure this bill doesn't pass," said Morin.

The polling industry's professional body, the Marketing Researchand Intelligence Association, says online surveys cannot be assigneda margin of error because they do not randomly sample thepopulation.