Police Oppose Gun Control, Support Armed Citizens

[Delford]

Sheriffs are usually elected in the county they serve and are far less political than police chiefs. We are a blue city in a red state but our Sheriffs in this county have been Pro 2A Democrats for 40 years. They are effective policemen and effective managers. Our current Sheriff is a Concealed Carry Instructor and well versed on the state's gun laws.

Our Police Chiefs are quite the opposite and the officers are predominantly Pro 2A. I've encountered several off duty and one on duty that I had conversations with and they were all pro concealed carry and pro 2A. Enduring the Chief's posings is part of the job.

 

[Lycidas Janwor]

I have friends in LE and I've met other LEO over the years and none of them are anti-2nd Amendment. These guys, for the most part, love guns and love talking about guns because they are enthusiasts who appreciate shooting sports and hunting.

 

[oldbear]

With one or two exceptions, every officer I worked with supported a citizens right to own and with the proper license CCW. We also supported stronger prison sentences for anyone convicted of using a firearm in the Commission of a crime. Many states have laws that cover the above, but all to often the A.D.A.s' deal them away, at pretrial.

 

[Agsalaska]

I dont believe that, and if true I dont believe the trend will last. The vast majority of gun legislation in the US, including all that I have been apart of, restrictions have been supported by local police. Sure a lot of rank and file guys might not go along with that, but that doesnt matter. The role of police in this country has changed dramatically in the last 15 years. It is now militarized, and that doesnt jive with gun ownership.

I believe that, over time, more and more in law enforcement will be against private gun ownership. Its the natural course.

 

[DPris]

Again- it is NOT the actual worker bees who support increased gun restrictions.
That's the thrust of this thread.

There's quite often a vast gap between what the chief says & how the people who have to deal with him from below actually think & feel.
Denis

 

[Old Dog]

I believe that, over time, more and more in law enforcement will be against private gun ownership. Its the natural course.

No. Spoken like someone who doesn't know any working cops.

Can't make a statement so extreme without at least trying to support your thesis. "Natural course?" C'mon, now ...

 

[Thermactor]

I believe that, over time, more and more in law enforcement will be against private gun ownership. Its the natural course.

No. Spoken like someone who doesn't know any working cops.

Can't make a statement so extreme without at least trying to support your thesis. "Natural course?" C'mon, now ...

Well, I think that as time goes by, we'll see a more of a divergence in police attitudes about guns.
Politically savvy police leadership and unions are the obvious proponents of a lot of anti-2A garbage which does not in any way reflect the average American beat cop's opinion.
But some agencies don't like an armed public. It boils down to the culture of the agency.
For example, I've heard a lot of stories of the Ohio State Highway Patrol giving motorists an extremely hard time because they discovered a gun or ammunition in the vehicle during an enforcement stop.
Agencies in anti-gun bastions such as New York City and other anti-gun areas in the Northeast also take a dim view of private firearms ownership. The reasons for this are debatable but I think that a key driver of their attitude is the extremely restrictive firearms legislation in those areas.

Demographic trends are also shifting and as the nation changes its ethnic composition to include a lot of immigrants from South America and Asia, these immigrant groups will see increased representation in law enforcement. It's well-established that immigrants from these nations tend towards anti-2A attitudes.

 

[Sol]

I was with my friend when he got pulled over. He got disarmed by OFC. Ilovecivilians withguns and we both got cuffed and sat on curbs being interogated with all sorts of asinine questions.

They let us go after 30 minutes a dog search and tearing off the door panels.

I told my friend he should have cleared up that felony warrant he had....oh wait nevermind it was a dead license plate bulb.

Anectdotal for sure, but that was a real eye opener. That may attribute to some of my reluctance for not entirely believing this article.

 

[Delford]

Thermactor,
While new Latinos are coming in the 3rd & 4th generation are the ones entering LE now. They reflect current rank & file attitudes and not the liberal/political administrative types.
The Asians entering our police force are 2nd generation Vietnamese, Montagnard, Cambodian, and a few other random Asian groups. Same goes for them. Stand on a corner with one or talk to them in a cafe and you'll pretty much get a pro-2A response.

Sol - I understand your reticence but what jurisdiction do you live in/near and where were you pulled over? If it's NY or IL yes. Some parts of Ohio. The further South or Blue State you go the less you'll encounter that (in my opinion/experience). My 3rd stop in 40 years was a good encounter and my CCL and a clean driving record resulted in a warning.

 

[Nicky Santoro]

Police Oppose Gun Control, Support Armed Citizens


Not in my town, it would seem. The last time I picked up a New Jerky pistol permit, some ding dong with a badge who was in the cop shop at the time asked me if I was going to shoot him with it. I asked him if he was going to go rogue and would require shooting and, if so, I would use a rifle as he likely wore body armor. He became almost apoplectic with rage because I was not impressed with his nonsense. What really PO'd him was that the other officers in the office started to laugh.

 

[Thermactor]

Police Oppose Gun Control, Support Armed Citizens


Not in my town, it would seem. The last time I picked up a New Jerky pistol permit, some ding dong with a badge who was in the cop shop at the time asked me if I was going to shoot him with it. I asked him if he was going to go rogue and would require shooting and, if so, I would use a rifle as he likely wore body armor. He became almost apoplectic with rage because I was not impressed with his nonsense. What really PO'd him was that the other officers in the office started to laugh.

I could see that encounter ending differently.

 

[old lady new shooter]

Demographic trends are also shifting and as the nation changes its ethnic composition to include a lot of immigrants from South America and Asia, these immigrant groups will see increased representation in law enforcement. It's well-established that immigrants from these nations tend towards anti-2A attitudes.

I've spent a lot of time around Hispanics (who are 42% of the population here) and my experience is that they are very much in favor of gun rights, I don't think I've ever met a single anti-2A one.

 

[Thermactor]

Demographic trends are also shifting and as the nation changes its ethnic composition to include a lot of immigrants from South America and Asia, these immigrant groups will see increased representation in law enforcement. It's well-established that immigrants from these nations tend towards anti-2A attitudes.

I've spent a lot of time around Hispanics (who are 42% of the population here) and my experience is that they are very much in favor of gun rights, I don't think I've ever met a single anti-2A one.

According to a Pew study, while overall support for gun rights increased, there is a vast majority of hispanics that you may not have met that want your guns to be 'controlled'.
http://www.people-press.org/2014/12/10/growing-public-support-for-gun-rights/

Hispanics prioritize gun control over gun rights by a wide 71% to 25% margin.

 

[Thermactor]

Thermactor,
While new Latinos are coming in the 3rd & 4th generation are the ones entering LE now. They reflect current rank & file attitudes and not the liberal/political administrative types.
The Asians entering our police force are 2nd generation Vietnamese, Montagnard, Cambodian, and a few other random Asian groups. Same goes for them. Stand on a corner with one or talk to them in a cafe and you'll pretty much get a pro-2A response.

Sol - I understand your reticence but what jurisdiction do you live in/near and where were you pulled over? If it's NY or IL yes. Some parts of Ohio. The further South or Blue State you go the less you'll encounter that (in my opinion/experience). My 3rd stop in 40 years was a good encounter and my CCL and a clean driving record resulted in a warning.

http://aapivoices.com/gun-control-asian-americans/

Overall, a very high proportion of Asian American registered voters supporting stricter gun laws (80%), much higher than the national average for surveys conducted in 2014 such as the Quinnipiac Poll, which found that only 50% of American registered voters supported stricter gun laws.

gun-control-graph

Support for stricter gun laws is strong across the board among Asian Americans, ranging from 74% among Filipino Americans to 86% among Vietnamese Americans. It is also extremely high among Asian American women and among those in older age groups

 

[old lady new shooter]

According to a Pew study, while overall support for gun rights increased, there is a vast majority of hispanics that you may not have met that want your guns to be 'controlled'.
http://www.people-press.org/2014/12/10/growing-public-support-for-gun-rights/

Wow, I'm flabbergasted to read that. Either the subset I know don't represent the majority, or the sample size of the survey (only 172 Hispanics from all over the US) was just too small to be representative. I wonder whether the length of time the family has been in the US makes a difference.

 

[Lost Sheep]

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

I understand that, but

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. (underlines added)

Call me naive, but aren't unions supposed to respond to and reflect the views of the members?

I know there are many reasons union leadership might thwart the membership and shy the membership might put up with it. I just wonder if anyone knows the factor at work with THIS particular discrepancy.

Lost Sheep

 

[Jesse H]

Whenever I make a traffic stop and the driver provides his CHL and informs me he's not carrying, I tell them, "you should!"

 

[Old Dog]

Call me naive, but aren't unions supposed to respond to and reflect the views of the members?

Well ... I don't know you, so I won't call you naïve ...

Actually, a fair question. Can't speak to all LE unions, but I can tell you that mine does not (in its public face) reflect the views of the rank and file members.

Our union does do a very good job representing the sort of officers who screw up and need to be fired ... In the spirit of not saying anything further that's negative, I'll stop there.

Oh, wait -- I will add that during elections, our union seems to endorse only Democrat candidates. Very strange.

I just wonder if anyone knows the factor at work with THIS particular discrepancy.

Wish I had the answer for that. I for one am tired of my union not representing my views (and also for rolling over every time our contract comes up for bargaining). It's very hard to vote a union out once it becomes your bargaining unit ... And too few union representatives have actual line officer experience -- most get into the job and become -- politicians.

 

[TimSr]

Local union chapters tend to represent their members well, but when you get into those in control of the national union organization, they are almost entirely one party contributors, that does not reflect the makeup of the membership.

If you think of how many infringements we tolerate or accept just because they've always been there in our lifetime, its easy to understand why immigrants would feel more comfortable with gun laws reflecting what they are used to in their home countries. I remember a friend visiting from Canada, who was not anti-gun, but was shocked to see a bunch of guys open cases and bags, each with several pistols for day of rural backyard plinking. He'd never seen so many pistols in one place before.

I think a poll of immigrants from former Soviet eastern block countries, and places like Israel, where all citizens are potential soldiers, you'd get a different poll.

 

[Thermactor]

Wow, I'm flabbergasted to read that. Either the subset I know don't represent the majority, or the sample size of the survey (only 172 Hispanics from all over the US) was just too small to be representative. I wonder whether the length of time the family has been in the US makes a difference.

With a basic understanding of statistics, you'll find that a sample size of 30 independent individuals in a survey would be statistically significant.

Here's an article showing an even greater spread, with a greater sample size (n=500)
Latino voters support gun control laws:
http://nbclatino.com/2013/03/12/pol...party-latino-voters-support-gun-control-laws/
Mexico jumps into US gun control debate:
http://latino.foxnews.com/latino/news/2013/01/15/mexico-jumps-into-us-gun-control-debate/
Study: Latinos More Likely to Favor Gun Control:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/04/26/study-latinos-more-likely_n_1456523.html
Opinion: Latinos may Lead The Way to Gun Control in the Future:
http://www.amren.com/news/2012/07/opinion-latinos-may-lead-the-way-to-gun-control-in-the-future/
The numbers do not lie.

 

[Lycidas Janwor]

...

 

[Lycidas Janwor]

http://aapivoices.com/gun-control-asian-americans/

Statistics can be used to create all sorts of lies. And, Murthy is an idiot:

http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/meet-vivek-murthy-controversial-surgeon-general/story?id=27612422

 

[JTHunter]

Statistics can be used to create all sorts of lies.

I think it was Mark Twain that said there are lies, damned lies, then there are "statistics"!

You folks didn't let me down. I was hoping to get a few anecdotal stories out of this topic and you came through. I enjoyed reading them.

Nicky - keep your eyes on that cop as he will probably be in the news someday. And not in a good way as he appears to have "anger management" issues!

 

[TRX]

> The ... chiefs

...are appointees or employees, and will therefore echo their employers' party line if they want to keep their jobs.

 

[Thermactor]

Statistics can be used to create all sorts of lies. And, Murthy is an idiot:

http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/meet-vivek-murthy-controversial-surgeon-general/story?id=27612422

He's not an idiot.
He's a tyrant.
Biiiiiig difference.