Some Canadian gun owners are upset their personal information from the national gun registry has been passed by the RCMP to a polling company for a research study.

The poll was done to gauge gun owners' satisfaction with the RCMP's firearms program.

Tony Bernardo, who does legal work for the Canadian Shooting Sports Association, said members were outraged when they received calls from Ekos Research.

"This information is absolutely privileged and encoded," said Bernardo. "It should have never been released beyond the confines of the RCMP."

"What the heck a polling firm is doing with information about names, addresses and phone numbers of people who own firearms in this country so they can contact them for a poll is beyond me," said Greg Farrant of the Ontario Federation of Anglers and Hunters. "But it sure isn't public safety."

Police say the polling was not a violation of privacy because Ekos was working as an extension of the RCMP

"We contracted Ekos people, security cleared them to the level that our people are, and they were conducting the research on our behalf," said Chief Supt. Marty Cheliak, who heads up the RCMP's Canadian firearms program, which is responsible for licensing and regulating all firearms.

Cheliak said the information obtained by Ekos will be destroyed after it is analyzed or it will be turned over to the police.

He said about 1,100 gun owners across Canada responded to the voluntary poll.

Earlier this week, Toronto police said they had seized almost 400 firearms from registered owners in a six-month push aimed at reducing the number of guns on the city's streets.

In March, officers began soliciting registered firearm owners across the city as part of what they call the Safe City Project. Many of those who had to surrender their firearms had either let their registrations lapse, or had stashed their guns improperly under beds or in closets.