The questionnaire was posted on Public Safety Canada’s web site when Blair launched public consultations and a study of handgun and assault rifle bans. The department received nearly 135,000 responses over four weeks.
Of those who responded, 81 per cent, did not want more to be done to limit access to handguns.
Only 18 per cent said yes to the idea.
Surprisingly, 72 per cent of those who said they did not own a handgun did not support more action to limit access to them.
Of those who said they owned handguns, 93 per cent opposed the idea.
Response to the same question with regard to assault weapons was similar.
Overall, 77 per cent of the respondents said no to further limits on assault weapons. Only 21 per cent supported the idea and two per cent had no opinion.
The questionnaire was the closest the report came to giving numbers indicating the gap between opponents and proponents of more limits on access.