OTTAWA — While the federal government weathers the latest wave of backlash over its firearms buyback , it has also been looking at ways to sell the program to gun owners.

Earlier this year, Public Safety Canada hired a consulting and research firm to conduct a series of focus groups and surveys to test potential concepts for a nationwide advertising campaign to raise awareness of the compensation program and encourage gun owners to participate.

The government is banking on the willingness of gun owners to do so, with Prime Minister Mark Carney calling it “voluntary.” Officials caution that gun owners have roughly a year to decide how to dispose of any of the more than 2,500 makes and models of firearms they own, which the Liberals have banned since 2020.

Much like the policy itself, t

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