Survey: Where Does Law Enforcement Stand on Gun Control?
OutdoorHub Reporters 04.09.13
PoliceOne.com, a news and resource website for law enforcement officers, recently released the results of a broad gun control survey given to more than 15,000 verified law enforcement professionals. In the survey, officers answered just under 30 questions that sought their perspectives on a number of gun control issues, including the effects that any federal bans would have on crime. According to the site, 70 percent of the officers who participated in the survey were “field level law enforcers” across a number of agencies and departments. Roughly 80 percent of the survey-takers were active officers while the remaining 20 percent were retired.
Here are some of the results:
- 71% of the polled officers believe that a federal ban on semi-automatic firearms would have no effect on reducing violent crime.
- 85% of officers say that passage of the White House’s proposed legislation will have no or negative impact on officer safety.
- 86.2% of officers believe that casualties resulting from an active shooter incident would have been reduced if armed citizens were present.
- 76.6% of officers believe that school teachers and administrators should be allowed to carry firearms in the course of their jobs, provided they are trained and qualified.
When questioned “What do you believe is the biggest cause of gun violence in the United States?”
- 38.1% answered “decline in parenting and family values.”
- 14.7% answered “parole, early release and short sentencing for violent offenders.”
- 13.9% answered “pop culture influence” which involved violent movies, video games and social norms.
The overarching conclusion reached by PoliceOne is that the majority of police officers oppose the current proposals to restrict firearm ownership. Many officers feel that not only will these measures be ineffective in reducing crime, but will affect their ability to enforce the law.
PoliceOne’s Editor in Chief Doug Wyllie writes that, “police overwhelmingly favor an armed citizenry, would like to see more guns in the hands of responsible people, and are skeptical of any greater restrictions placed on gun purchase, ownership, or accessibility”
The executive director of NRA’s Institute for Legislative Action, Chris W. Cox, responded to the survey by saying, “the American people, and particularly the members of law enforcement, want politicians in Washington to stop pursuing a failed political agenda and get to work fixing our broken mental health system, improving school security, and getting criminals off the streets.”
Here is some additional information from the survey:
- More than 81 percent said that “gun buy-backs” do not reduce gun violence.
- Nearly 80 percent said that a ban on private transfers of firearms between law-abiding citizens would not reduce violent crime.
- More than 76 percent indicated that legally armed citizens are important to reducing crime.
- More than 70 percent said that a ban on “assault weapons” would not reduce violent crime.
- More than 70 percent opposed the idea of a national registry of legal gun sales.
- Nearly 68 percent said magazine capacity restrictions would negatively affect them personally.
- 99 percent said policies other than an “assault weapons” ban are most important to prevent mass shootings.
- Almost 96 percent said that a ban on standard capacity magazines would not reduce violent crime.
- More than 91 percent 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 percent stated they supported the Right-to-Carry by law abiding Americans.
You can read the survey in its entirety here.
