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Consultations began last October with the minister holding roundtable discussions across the country and launching a public online questionnaire from Oct. 11 through Nov. 10. Dennis Young, an Alberta firearms researcher and blogger, recently obtained through an access-to-information request the results of that questionnaire.

Of the 133,539 people who responded, 107,448 — or 80 per cent — answered “no” to the question, “Should more be done to limit access to handguns?” Similarly, when asked whether more should be done to limit access to “assault,” or rapid-fire, weapons, 102,221 — or 76 per cent — said “no.”

To further restrict handguns for law abiding firearms owners is like trying to prevent drunk driving by making it harder for sober drivers to own cars

But Drummond, who himself is a gun owner, said the results do not jibe with recent public opinion polls that show a majority of Canadians favour tighter restrictions. He suggested the most “vociferous” opponents mobilized to sway the outcome of the questionnaire.

“They have used a fairly aggressive social media campaign. … Everyone in their right mind suspects there is (National Rifle Association) support for their effort,” he said, referring to the large gun lobby in the United States.

Drummond also noted that a Quebec engineer, Francois Bellemare, has publicly admitted he used software to send more than 25,000 automated responses to the questionnaire.

Bellemare, who is a member of the Canadian Coalition for Firearm Rights, told the National Post his responses were submitted over 11 days from Oct. 23 through Nov. 2. But he said he doubts all those votes were actually counted given that there was only a small uptick in votes cast during that period, according to the records.