Police Officers Disagree With Gun-Control Orthodoxy

[Geee]

Human Events:

There is a considerable difference of opinion between police officers and their high-level supervisors on the topic of gun control. A survey of 15,000 cops by PoliceOne.com, an online resource for law-enforcement officers, reveals strong disagreement with just about every aspect of gun control orthodoxy.

Among the more significant findings, 99 percent of police officers favored policies other than an “assault weapons” ban to prevent mass shootings; 96 percent said banning magazines that hold over 10 rounds would not reduce violent crime (and 68 percent said such a ban would negatively affect them personally); 70 percent opposed creating a national registry of legal gun sales; and over 60 percent said President Obama’s gun control proposals would not improve the safety of police officers. In fact, digging into the poll internals, only about 12 percent thought there would be any benefits to officer safety from the President’s proposals, while 24.6 percent thought they would have a negative impact on officer safety.

What measures would these police officers prefer? They’re strongly in favor of increased mandatory sentencing, without plea bargains, for those who use guns in the commission of a crime. 91 percent of the officers responding to the poll supported this idea.