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Health & Fitness

Thousands of Police DO NOT Think Rifle Bans & Magazine Limits Will Work; Favor Armed Civilians Too (LEO poll)

A new survey involving 15,000 law enforcement officers nationwide show little faith in black rifle bans, magazine limits, background checks. They also overwhelming support an armed citizenry.

Since that horrific day in December, we have heard all manner of claims about how the nation’s and Connecticut’s law enforcement establishment were behind all manner of gun restrictions, including black rifle bans and magazine capacity limits. As I have noted on these pages before, these claims almost always related to chiefs or chiefs organizations that publicly supported a wide range of restrictions promulgated by gun control advocacy groups and like-minded politicians. 

However, as I have also noted, police chiefs are more like politicians than they are patrol officers and their views often reflect those who control their budgets. Conversely, patrol officers often have views that differ greatly from their chiefs but remain out of the public eye for the obvious reason. In private conversations I have had with many patrol officers and sergeants, I have found almost universal support for the Second Amendment, for a lawfully armed citizenry and little support for rifle and magazine bans, most due to a historic lack of efficacy. A new survey confirms the views from these private discussions are not isolated to the LEOs that I know.

Policeone.com believes it is the #1 website for all things related to being a law enforcement officer. Founded and run by LEOs for LEOs, this site has over 400,000 registered active and retired LEOs. They are the voice of law enforcement.

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Last month, PoliceOne conducted a survey of their members and have over 15,000 verified LEOs respond. PoliceOne claims that this is “the most comprehensive survey ever of American LEOs’ opinions on the topic gripping the nation's attention in recent weeks: gun control.” The survey’s 28 questions spanned issues ranging from gun control and gun violence to gun rights.

Why may this be the most important opinion survey of its type ever undertaken? Beyond the participation of over 15,000 verified law enforcement professionals, 70% of the survey respondents are field-level law enforcers. As PoliceOne puts it, “those who are face-to-face in the fight against violent crime on a daily basis — not office-bound, non-sworn administrators or perpetually-campaigning elected officials.” These officers come from all ranks and from departments ranging in size from less than 25 to more than 1,000.

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The results of the survey show unequivocally that these LEOs do not support the gun control agenda being peddled by President Obama nor the type of restrictions just passed in Hartford. That said, the results do show the respondents strongly support the right of law-abiding Americans to own and carry firearms.

The survey also showed that those surveyed favor common sense efforts that focus on keeping firearms out of the hands of the mentally ill, fixing our broken mental health system, improving school security, and getting criminals off the streets.

Below are some of the more significant results from the survey. WARNING to gun control advocates, you are not going to like some of what you read because it runs counter to all of the chief-based propaganda that you have been fed for months.

  • Fully 99% said policies other than an “assault weapons” ban are most important to prevent mass shootings.
  • Nearly 96% said that a ban on standard capacity magazines would not reduce violent crime.
  • More than 91% stated that the use of a firearm in the commission of a crime should have stiff, mandatory sentences, and no plea-bargains.
  • More than 91% stated they supported the Right-to-Carry by law abiding Americans.
  • More than 81% said that “gun buy-backs” do not reduce gun violence.
  • Nearly 80% believe legally armed citizens can reduce casualties in incidents of mass violence.
  • Nearly 80% said that a ban on private transfers of firearms between law-abiding citizens would not reduce violent crime.
  • More than 76% indicated that legally armed citizens are important to reducing crime.
  • More than 76% support the arming of trained and qualified teachers or administrators who volunteer to carry a firearm.
  • More than 70% said that a ban on “assault weapons” would not reduce violent crime.
  • More than 70% opposed the idea of a national registry of legal gun sales.
  • Nearly 68% said magazine capacity restrictions would negatively affect them personally.
  • More than 60% said that the passage of Obama’s gun control legislation would not improve officer safety

The last question is one of the most fascinating and I will include it here in its entirety:

What do you believe is the biggest cause of gun violence in the United States?

38.1% Decline in parenting and family values

14.7% Parole, early release and short sentences for violent offenders

13.9% Pop culture influence (i.e. violent video games, violent movies)

10.1% Poor identification and treatment of mentally ill individuals

  4.4% Guns are too prevalent and easy to obtain

  1.6% Economic factors/income inequality

 17.2% Unsure/Other

So, based on the opinions of 14,000 LEOs, only 4.4% believe the type of firearm-specific restrictions just passed in Hartford will address the biggest cause of gun violence.

What is sadly ironic is that liberals who believe in gun-control are often the type of folk who were against the Iraq and Afghanistan military adventures of the Bush Administration. One often heard admonition from the anti-war folks were that Bush should “listen to the generals” on the assumption that those in harms way knew better than the desk jockeys in Washington. They argued that the generals knew more than the “chicken hawk” civilians who had never served their country but were running the Defense Department. That argument kind of backfired on the anti-war folk when Bush listened and The Surge was the result.

We see just the opposite today. Civilians arguing for further gun restrictions, most who have never owned or even handled a firearm, are focused on the views of elected officials and/or professional gun control advocacy groups. Their “experts” have never served in law enforcement and they chiefs they listen too have not served on patrol in years and have morphed into political operatives themselves. So while they argued in the 2000s to listen to the war-fighters, today they are ignoring those fighting the street war against real gun violence and are instead listening to the “chicken hawks” of gun control advocacy.

As I have said before, those who believe that the rank & file police officer is going to willingly enforce gun-restrictions with which they disagree and/or they feel violates citizens’ Constitutional rights, might want to rethink that assumption. 

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