A Twitter pal reminds me that scapegoating gun-rights advocates was also the distraction favored by Harvey Weinstein when his own personal scandal exploded in the media two years ago.

The difference being that Weinstein didn’t have the power of the state behind him like the Canadian Al Jolson here does.

Justin Trudeau didn’t have the good sense not to dress up as a grotesque caricature of dark-skinned people, ergo law-abiding people in his country need to lose some freedom. That’s how Canadian politics works, apparently. It’s not just a ban on assault rifles that his Liberal government is promising either: They pledge to implement a buyback program with a two-year amnesty to take assault rifles out of circulation, and they’re going to hand local governments more power to ban *handguns* too.

What happens if a fourth photo of Trudeau in blackface emerges? Total federal ban on all firearms, I thinking.

There’s nothing like a Second Amendment in Canada, of course, so the government is free to go as far as it likes. “Firearm ownership in this country is a privilege,” said the Liberal Party’s chief spokesman on gun control to the CBC. “It’s a privilege earned by people who would adhere to our laws and our regulations. And if they don’t adhere to our laws and regulations, they lose that privilege.” There are gun-rights groups too, of course, and they’re pissed off and vowing to punish Trudeau in next month’s elections: “This is a really important time for gun owners. It has never been more true than it is right now. This is it.” Is it, though? Canadians were polled on gun control back in May. Result:

A new Angus Reid Institute public survey study suggests six out of ten Canadians want an outright ban on handguns in this country.

The support rises to three-quarters of Canadians when it comes to a ban on assault weapons.

“Assault weapons both in Canada and especially in the United States are associated with some pretty terrible crimes, some really profound tragedies and so I think we do see a greater level of support for a ban in that regard,” said Angus Reid Institute executive director Shachi Kurl.

The silver lining for Canadian gun owners is that while polling in the U.S. also often shows majority support for an assault-weapons ban, the majority that’s in favor tends to be far less motivated by the issue than the minority that’s opposed. Right now Trudeau’s party remains favored to win the most seats in next month’s election, although the odds of that happening dropped from 69 percent to 60 overnight after his little make-up snafu emerged. (It’s back up to 63 today). Clearly he thinks the gun issue is a winner on balance for his side, if only by giving Canadian liberals a reason to stick with him during a moment of doubt. Essentially he’s making the same pitch to his own base here as Trump makes to the right in the U.S.: However personally dubious you may find him, remember that he’s your best chance for getting the policies you support enacted. “Thoughts and prayers aren’t going to cut it,” said Trudeau at today’s presser, echoing a favorite point of American gun-grabbers after a mass shooting. He’s signaling his virtue to the left in the most conspicuous way he can after giving them a moment of real doubt yesterday.

Exit question: Has he explained yet why he chose the *darkest shade of black imaginable* for that Aladdin get-up he put together in 2001? If he was resolved to darken his skin for the role for whatever weird reason, you would think he would have tried to mitigate objections to it by choosing subtlety. “Gimme the lightest brown foundation you have. I’m talking ‘coffee with a half cup of creamer in it.'” Instead he appears to have told the make-up people, “One word: Tar.” What the hell?