Balanced Poll

On globeandmail.com right now there is this poll question, "A number of people were shot at a major retail site in Toronto on Boxing Day. Is a federal ban on handguns an appropriate approach to curbing such crimes?"

What a loaded question! The initial statement makes people lean a certain way. If the question was asked, "In other countries that have instituted a handgun ban, gun crime has actually increased. Is a federal ban on handguns appropriate?" Or, "Most gun crime happens with unregistered firearms that are illegally purchased on the black market. Should the federal government ban the registered handguns that law abiding citizens own?"

Clearly the two questions I made up are biased, even though they are true. When the Globe and Mail decides to start the question with a preamble that will produce certain results, they clearly aren't trying to gauge their readers' true opinions on the subject.