Politics

Survey suggests law enforcement united against gun control

Spencer Amaral Contributor
Font Size:

A new online survey suggests that the vast majority of active and former police officers adamantly oppose President Barack Obama’s proposed bans on so-called “assault weapons” and high-capacity magazines.

The study, conducted by first-responder community website PoliceOne.com, included more than 15,000 self-identified active and retired law enforcement officers, with 99 percent of respondents saying that policies other than an assault-weapons ban are most important in preventing future mass shootings.

“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,” said the executive director of the NRA’s Institute for Legislative Action, Chris Cox.

Here are the rest of the survey’s results:

  • 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.
  • More than 81 percent said that “gun buy-backs” do not reduce gun violence.
  • 80 percent believe legally armed citizens can reduce casualties in incidents of mass 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 76 percent support the arming of trained and qualified teachers or administrators who volunteer to carry a firearm.
  • 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.
  • More than 60 percent said that the passage of Obama’s gun control legislation would not improve officer safety.

The full survey can be found here. PoliceOne verifies that members are police officers by requiring them to submit a photograph or scanned copy of government-issued law enforcement identification. It is unclear whether only verified members could participate in the survey.

The online survey is not necessarily statistically indicative of the attitudes of law enforcement nationally.

Follow Spencer on Twitter

Spencer Amaral