NEWS RELEASE

May 17, 2004                                                                                                   For Immediate Release

NEWEST POLL SHOWS 76.7% OF CANADIANS WANT GUN REGISTRY SCRAPPED!

“Conservatives believe in gun control, but gun registration has failed to control guns or reduce violent crime.”

Yorkton – Today, Garry Breitkreuz, Deputy House Leader and Official Opposition Justice Critic for Firearms, released the latest in a string of national polls that show support for the gun registry has dropped to an all-time low of 16.7%.  “The Liberals are living in their own gun control dreamland; two million law-abiding gun owners are living in a nightmare of red tape and user fees; Toronto residents are living in fear; and taxpayers are living with the soon-to-be $2 billion dollar price tag,” said Breitkreuz.  “Canadian voters know that the gun registry isn’t gun control, but for some inexplicable reason the Liberals just don’t get it.”

The Executive Summary of the JMCK survey states: A substantial majority of Canadians (76.7%) agree that the federal gun registry should be scrapped, allowing the federal government to fight violent crime by devoting more resources to other law enforcement priorities. A clear majority (61.6%) strongly agrees. Only 16.7% somewhat or strongly disagree while 6.7% are undecided.  JMCK Polling (a division of JMCK Communications Inc.) of Calgary conducted the poll between April 25 and 30, 2004.  JMCK Pollster Faron Ellis, Ph.D., reported that a total of 1,586 adult Canadians were interviewed by telephone and that the sample has been statistically weighted to more accurately represent the demographic distribution of the population. The margin of error is + 2.5 per cent, 19 times out of 20 and the margin of error increases when analyzing sub-samples of the total.  See below for the link to the complete poll results.

Last week, Anne McLellan, the Minister in charge of the Liberal government’s firearms fiasco, told the House of Commons that the vast majority of Canadians want to see an effective and efficient gun control program in place.  “Conservatives agree,” declared Breitkreuz.  “But there are only a few misguided Liberals in Canada who still think the gun registry has anything to do with controlling the criminal use of firearms.”

This newest JMCK poll clearly shows that opposition to the gun registry now crosses all party lines: 92% of Conservatives; 78% of Bloc Quebecois; 71% of Liberals; and 69% of New Democrats.  Opposition is also unanimous in all regions: 92% in Alberta; 82% in BC; 82% in Atlantic Canada; 75% in Saskatchewan; 75% in Ontario; and 67% in Quebec.  The majority of respondents in all demographic groupings (gender, age, education and income) shared their opposition to the gun registry.  For example, 79% of males and 74% of females agreed that the gun registry should be scrapped.

“The more the Paul Martin’s Liberals ignore these polls, the more obvious their decades-long agenda against legal gun ownership becomes.  After ten-years of bureaucratic bungling and more than a billion dollars wasted on the firearms file, Canadians don’t want more reviews: they want the gun registry scrapped.  A Conservative government will repeal all the Liberal legislative mistakes and introduce cost-effective new gun laws designed specifically to keep guns out of the hands of people who shouldn’t have them!” promised Breitkreuz.

COMPLETE RESULTS OF JMCK GUN REGISTRY POLL

http://www.cssa-cila.org/garryb/publications/JMCKPollingFirearmsPoll2004.pdf

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