28 Percent of Gun Owners Hunt for Food, 31 Percent Inherited Firearm: Government Research

A Browning BAR 270 deer hunting rifle, which would be prohibited if the Liberal government’s gun legislation amendments pass in Canada. (Courtesy of Tracey Wilson of the Canadian Coalition for Firearm Rights)

Twenty-eight percent of Canadian firearm owners hunt for food, while another 39 percent target shoot as a hobby, according to research by the federal Public Safety department that paints a picture of typical gun owners in the country.

Half of gun owners own just one firearm, and 44 percent said they have owned their firearms for more than five years. Eight percent of firearm owners have owned their guns for less than a year. The majority have purchased their firearms legitimately from official retailers.

Of those who reported currently owning more than one firearm (51 percent), one-quarter (26 percent) say they currently own two firearms. Three in ten (31 percent) have inherited their firearms, according to the report, titled “Firearms Public Awareness Campaign: Firearms Owners.”

Almost six in ten (54 percent) firearm owners own a rifle, and four in ten (43 percent) own a shotgun. Approximately 42 percent say they own a handgun. Two in ten (19 percent) own a semi-automatic long gun.

Most firearm owners (41 percent) report they mostly use their firearms while alone. Another 21 percent say they mostly use their firearms in social settings, and 29 percent use them in both solo and social settings equally.

Most firearm owners feel that the possession of all types of firearms should be legal in all or most cases. Seventy-nine percent of gun owners say manual action rifles and shotguns should be legal, while 75 percent say replica firearms and 70 percent say semi-automatic rifles and shotguns should be legal.

Eighty-two percent of firearm owners surveyed agreed with the statement that “it is important to protect traditional values and activities.”

Sixty-two percent of gun owners support ownership of revolvers, and 56 percent are in favour of semi-automatic handguns being legal in all or most cases.

Outdoor Activities

Firearm owners reported participating in many other activities, such as fishing (7 percent), hiking (66 percent), camping (63 percent), hunting (56 percent), and boating (49 percent). Other popular activities that firearms owners reported being involved in include video games that feature firearms, in-person shows and conferences about outdoor activities, sport-shooting events, gun shows, gun collecting, paintball, and laser tag.

Firearm owners responded to the researchers stating they worry about how the public perceives gun owners. Seventy-two percent of firearm owners say gang-related violence and organized crime are the largest source of gun violence, as well as criminal activity and breaking and entering (67 percent).

A salesman holds up a rifle at a hunting store in Ottawa, in a file photo. (Jonathan Hayward/The Canadian Press)

A reported 7 percent of firearms owners would refuse to participate in a government gun-buyback program, indicating “they don’t want to sell their firearms, they feel they have a right to own these firearms, that the government should go after gangs and criminals instead, or that they are responsible gun owners.”

“Most participants reported owning a few firearms that were typically hunting rifles,” wrote researchers. “They used their guns for game hunting, for shooting small animals such as birds on their farm or to defend themselves from predatory animals such as bears. Some also used their guns for sport shooting.”

“While a majority of participants did not possess any of the newly prohibited assault-style firearms, a couple of participants in most sessions did possess them. They often used these firearms at ranges, for sport shooting and target practice,” said the report.

“Those who had newly-prohibited assault-style firearms tended to own a large number of firearms and considered themselves collectors. Many firearms owners—especially those owning newly prohibited guns—described having an emotional attachment to their firearms,” added the report.

Findings were based on 12 focus groups and questionnaires with 2,001 gun owners nationwide. The public safety department paid Environics Research $223,528 for the survey. The newly-released report is dated March 31, prior to cabinet’s proposal to restrict ownership of common models of rifles and shotguns.

Opposition to Ban

Most gun owners expressed opposition to the ban that would effectively seize legally acquired and purchased private property. “This ranged from passive cynicism and questioning of the government’s motives, to more intense opposition—particularly from those who currently own newly prohibited firearms,” indicated the report.

“Many participants were sensitive to feeling stigmatized by non-gun owning citizens and the government, by virtue of owning guns and of potentially being criminalized by the ban on assault-style firearms,” said the researchers.

The report was prepared in part to “better understand firearms owners as a target audience and their attitudes towards the proposed buy-back program.”

The buyback is part of Bill C-21, which, if passed with sweeping amendments now being debated by a House committee, will ban all semi-automatic shotguns and rifles, most of which were purchased legally, and which are unregistered and unrestricted. The proposed amendments would also ban any gun that can hold a detachable magazine.

Conservative MP and public safety critic Raquel Dancho told a House committee that the amendments would ban hundreds of models of common hunting rifles, amounting to “an all-out war on hunters.” She suggested that the Trudeau government ultimately wants the ability to “ban every single firearm model in this country.”

Opposition MPs at the Commons public safety committee on Dec. 13 blocked passage of the amendment, according to Blacklock’s Reporter.