r/canadaguns • u/Noah_S_Schwartz • Mar 26 '26
News / Politics / Activism New policy paper exposes lack of evidence for government's ASW ban.
I wanted to share a policy paper my team and I published evaluating the government's ban on so-called assault-style weapons.
We found no substantial evidence to support the ban and buyback.
Instead, we argue that funding should be directed towards community policing and violence interruption programs.
Read more here:
https://macdonaldlaurier.ca/off-target-evaluating-post-2019-changes-to-canadas-gun-control-laws/
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Mar 26 '26
Are you the Big Bad Gun Lobby we keep hearing about? Gary & Nath said you were spreading lies!! (/s)
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Mar 26 '26
I AM NOT A GOPHER OR A GROUNDHOG
-MP PROVOST
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u/jay370gt Mar 27 '26
But only a gopher or groundhog would be dumb enough to blame the gun that killed its buddies instead of the person behind the gun…
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u/Bearchill Mar 26 '26
Thanks for sharing! This will be the first academic paper I'll read. Any tips to help maximize my comprehension?
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u/paidjannie Mar 26 '26
Chain smoking and cheap coffee is how I used to get through them.
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u/CryptidWorks CryptidWorks Mar 26 '26
As someone who has also worked in academia, can confirm. The coffee maker on my desk was (and still is) considered operations-critical equipment.
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u/TEC-DC9 Mar 26 '26
It doesn’t matter. The bans have never actually been about safety, only the illusion of it. Notice how they always say “Canadians have the right to FEEL safe”, not “BE safe”.
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u/pukalo_ Mar 26 '26
There were studies concluding that imposing a licensing requirement in 1978 had no positive impact on public safety either, yet here we are.
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u/InitialAd4125 Mar 27 '26
Anything but improving peoples material condtions the state will go to absurd lengths and waste absurd amount of money to avoid making peoples lives better.
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u/thxxx1337 Mar 26 '26
Liberals don't enact fact based policy. They're more the control under the guise of civil liberties and hedonistic lifestyles type
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u/IcySkyDream Mar 26 '26
The biggest clue is them calling themselves "liberal", which means they are anything but.
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u/lanteenboy Mar 26 '26
Kudos for your work but I'm curious what you hope to accomplish with this?
The LPC isn't grabbing guns because they actually believe it's in the interest of public safety, it's a calculated PR stunt to gain urban/Quebec votes at the expense of an overwhelmingly conservative demographic. What do they have to lose and why would they start looking at facts now when the facts have been there all along?
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u/833psz Mar 26 '26
Because nobody is going to take your word for it, we need factual evidence or subject matter expertise. You aren’t it.
There are many Liberal apologists outside of Quebec who support further gun control because they believe it will save lives. They’ve never heard of Ecole Polytechnique. They support the Liberal policies because they see shootings on the US news. If those people were to be properly informed, the blind acceptance of Liberal policy reduces.
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u/lanteenboy Mar 27 '26
Where did I say I was trying to convince anyone?
There are facts and studies available already. No one cares.
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u/Admirable-Site7256 Mar 27 '26
Unfortunately, I agree!
For years, this Liberal government has repeatedly demonstrated that they are totally willing and able to blatantly lie to the whole country and ignore any relevant stats or evidence that contradict their narrative.
As a supposedly highly educated population, Canadians should be alarmed and ashamed that our government is being run this way by people like this yet....
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u/waitwhatnothing Mar 27 '26
It’s a policy paper from a think tank, its purpose is to influence government policy. In this case I would assume it’s meant to be there for a future conservative government to point to in order to back up whatever they might do or undo when it comes to firearms legislation.
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u/Reasonable_Hall2346 Mar 26 '26
So much misinformation and disinformation, its plaguing the research community. /s
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u/Kooky-Hamster4071 Mar 27 '26
We all know this. Everyone knows it. Even the Liberals. They just choose to do stupid stuff.
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u/FunkyFrunkle Mar 27 '26
The most depressing part of all this isn’t the fact that there was no reasonable justification, it’s that the government couldn’t care less and will keep going merrily along playing on people’s emotional sensibilities to impose more and more regulation until we’re regulated out of existence.
The government hasn’t operated on hard data when it comes to show bills like this, and they haven’t for decades. They know most people aren’t doing any comprehensive research on this, and the only people watching SECU meetings are the people who are directly impacted by this.
People typically don’t give a shit about regulating other people until it’s their turn to bend over. They’ll cajole themselves into an optimistic mindset about it by saying things like “Well, it’s not like anyone really needs these anyway” or “It’s a positive step in the right direction, even if there was no immediate justification” or simply “Guns bad so this good get over it lol”
Diehard supporters are just fine wasting billions of dollars on a prophylactic approach to policy making to satisfy a “what if” scenario. It’s paranoia policy, but some people are just fine with that.
Ugh.
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u/waitwhatnothing Mar 27 '26
Not crazy about the PMF section. Why exactly do we need to have incredibly vague laws pertaining to “computer data offences” when possessing a gun without a license is illegal and manufacturing a gun without a manufacturing license is illegal?
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u/rastamasta45 Mar 26 '26
Reading your paper now and love your work and interviews brother! Keep up the fight!
I cannot help but feel pessimistic, all this data and evidence and the LPC will simply look at this report and go “actually you’re wrong because I feel like you are” and then burn another billion while criminalizing law abiding citizens.