Police Oppose Gun Control, Support Armed Citizens

[JTHunter]

Survey says: Most cops believe gun control harms their mission.

We are all too familiar with the opposition to private firearms ownership and public attacks made on it. Far too often, some police chief or sheriff will stand up in front of cameras and denounce gun ownership, so-called assault weapons, standard-capacity magazines, or whatever the current hot-button gun control issue may be. This gives the impression that police are in favor of gun control and against private gun ownership.

According to a 2013 survey by PoliceOne, nothing could be further from the truth.

(link to article)
http://www.alloutdoor.com/2015/04/28/police-oppose-gun-control-support-armed-citizens/
(link to survey)
http://www.policeone.com/Gun-Legisl...ey-11-key-lessons-from-officers-perspectives/

 

[DPris]

When I was a working man, I knew exactly one fellow cop in 26 years of uniforms & badges that was anti-gun.

The gun-control chiefs do not speak for the greater majority of law enforcement.
I was not the only one who would have turned in a FU notice if the order had ever come down to begin confiscation on a general scale.

Too often too many people assume LE is the enemy.
Not so.
Denis

 

[AR-15Nutt]

thank you Denis for having common sense and a brain.

 

[VINTAGE-SLOTCARS]

As a retired LEO I agree.

 

[1911 guy]

Agreed. Elected officials are one thing, the cop doing the job is another. The vast majority of police I've met have ranged from pro-gun to ambivalent. Antis among the rank and file exist, of course, but are few and far between.

 

[rtroha]

I wish the rank-and-file would rein in the Ohio FOP, who consistently oppose every pro-gun bill that shows up in the Ohio General Assembly.

 

[Mr Woody]

Remember that a Chief "serves at the pleasure of the mayor" in most cases and will support which ever side his political boss wants him to. Less so if the chief came up through the ranks of his department because his department loyalty will be higher.

The vast majority of cops I worked with were pro gun.

 

[1911 guy]

If you think the FOP is a roadblock, look into the Ohio Association of Chiefs of Police. They make FOP look good.

 

[22-rimfire]

Politicians like to parade out the FOP and their views, but they do not represent the views of majority of officers. I used to donate to the FOP on a regular basis.... now ZERO $ and that will not change.

 

[jmr40]

I think it is regional to a large extent. In very liberal areas where gun control is more common you'll find more liberal cops in favor of gun control. Same with teachers, or any other group. Like minded people tend to settle in the same locations.

I know a lot of cops. After teaching 30 years I'd say at least 30-35% of local cops are either guys I taught or went to high school with. I'm also a civilian volunteer on our local Sheriff's dept. SAR team so I work pretty closely with most of them. Got a few relatives working in LE as well, I've never met a cop who wasn't very much pro-gun and pro 2nd Amendment.

But I'd bet in many other areas of the country that wouldn't be so.

 

[Speedo66]

It depends. Many police chiefs are nothing more than politicians wearing a uniform.

The attitude of the police officers themselves can vary based on location. A rural officer or deputy who grew up in a gun culture probably won't have a problem. An officer who's on a large city police force, or who grew up in a large city may have have a completely different mindset. This may be especially so in the more hardcore east and west coast cities.

 

[PhilMc]

Recently went to a neighborhood crime watch meeting in Cleveland with my NRA hat on. Was amazed at how many of the police there came up to me and endorsed people getting their carry permits. Over the past couple of years I have heard that come out of the boys in blue many times. The rank and file police know they can't be everywhere.

A while back I was at a local restaurant having breakfast with a buddy and we struck up a conversation with a cop sitting next to us. We were talking about the kind of ammo that we carried and he peeled off a round from one of his spare mags and we passed it around looking at it.

Bottom line these people that wear the uniforms are friends and family. Are there a few bad ones, yes but they are far and few between.

 

[EIB0879]

My father was a LEO for 33 years. He was vehemently against gun control even though he was a lifelong Democrat. Things were a lot different back then.

 

[Sol]

Most every article about impending gun legislation I've read, the police unions and chiefs support gun control.

I'm sure many individual officers have differing opinions, but the reality is that the unions and the chiefs opinion count much more than that of the individual officer.

 

[Thermactor]

Yet you see gun control measures cloaked in the ever-cynical guise of protecting American law enforcement officers.

 

[msmp5]

When I was a working man, I knew exactly one fellow cop in 26 years of uniforms & badges that was anti-gun.
The gun-control chiefs do not speak for the greater majority of law enforcement.......

When I started in LE in 1975, I don't think I knew a single anti-2A cop, and I lived and worked in a generally liberal area. But over the years (well, decades, actually) I have watched the attitudes of the new young Officers start to shift to the Left, on a variety of topics, albeit in my very liberal area. (I suspect this is much less so in rural areas and conservative states.) While I still think the majority of rank and file Officers support law abiding citizens owning and carrying guns, I am afraid the numbers of pro and anti-2A cops are not as overwhelmingly lopsided in the favor of the pro-2A cops as was once the case, at least in demographically liberal areas. Sad but true.

 

[Sol]

Yet you see gun control measures cloaked in the ever-cynical guise of protecting American law enforcement officers.

Officer safety comrade.

I wonder if law makers have like a multiple choice, fill in the blank form for less freedom minded laws.

"We need to make XXXXX law for the/ because of ________?

A. Children

B. Officer safety

C. Tear-rer-izm

D. None of the above, it's just "common sense"

 

[Speedo66]

Went to a local police open house demonstration yesterday. They demonstrated non lethal devices like shot bags fired from a shotgun like arm, flash bang grenades, and others.

Each was prefaced that they were for officer safety, including how the grenade would totally disorient the occupants when set off in their room. Which is fine, officer safety should be a priority. However, nothing was mentioned about the safety of the occupants of houses they invade by mistake. We read enough about this seemingly common error, including seniors and kids roughed up and pets shot, that this should be a major concern.

 

[herrwalther]

MOST law enforcement support gun rights. LEOs who support gun control tend to be few and far between but they are still there. Most of the police chiefs I have met or read about tend to be in favor of gun control whereas most rank and file officers are the opposite.

I remember one instance where I went to see a movie shortly after the Aurora, CO shooting. There were police officers at the entrance doing bag checks for weapons. There was a police captain there who straight up told me that it was a "feel good" measure and they were not interested or concerned with anyone who had a valid carry permit. It was one of the first times I encountered a true gun nut in law enforcement and talked with him for a good 20 minutes about firearms. I almost missed my movie.

 

[PRM]

I have been an LEO for 38 years and have always supported the 2nd Amendment. I am also a Life Member of the NRA. Most LEOs I have ever met are Pro-2nd.

I will even go as far as to say, I would personally like to see a Constitutional Right to Carry passed. If a person is not prohibited by law from purchasing or owning a firearm - they should be allowed to carry it. It's ridiculous to have to pay the government for the privilege of exercising your rights as an American.

 

[P5 Guy]

Who is always running the 'Gun Buy Back'?
Who is always handing out 'Gift Cards' for unwanted guns?
Who would stop anyone of us from trying to buy a gun from the folks standing in line to get a 'Gift Card' at a 'Gun Buy Back'?

 

[Sol]

Surely you are mistaken P5 Guy, the internet article and survey from a website named Policeone.com sez you're wrong.

Cops love people with guns. Well until they have to deal with them. Then your disarmed for Saf-T.

 

[Robert]

Cops love people with guns.

Yes, actually a great many of us do. At least here, and I can only speak to my experience where I live and work.

Well until they have to deal with them.

It depends on the situation.

Then your disarmed for Saf-T.

See above.

 

[barnbwt]

"Far too often, some police chief or sheriff will stand up in front of cameras and denounce gun ownership"
It is almost exclusively police chiefs, almost universally parroting their appointing Mayor's line. To be honest, I would say the fact that this one particular office in the law enforcement structure taking such an odd/extreme position compared to the rest of the body so frequently strongly suggests there is something badly flawed with the office itself. I've never understood the reasoning behind the chief officer of a large city not being an elected position by default, but the sheriffs out in the sticks always being directly accountable to those whom the law enforced upon.

My only guess is A) the mayor loves having more power over the people, and B) as a corollary to A), an appointed chief is able to force incredibly unpopular/unjust policies & practices upon 'certain portions' the people with the mayor's backing (and the mayor, being one step removed from the policies of the chief, can deny responsibility)

TCB

 

[Al Thompson]

Around here, most cops and departments tend to look at CWP holders as certified good folks. I suspect that qualifies or indicates most local cops are at least neutral.

Then again, all policing is very, very local in nature.