Unless you’ve been away on a retreat since before Christmas, or perhaps been abducted by aliens, you’ve probably noticed that the debate over “Gun Control” has been front & center in the news for months now.
The reason behind the flood of stories is terrifyingly simple: the tragic events at Sandy Hook Elementary. Twenty children and 6 adults lost their lives that day. Innocent victims of a deranged man, who, reportedly targeted THAT school because of revenge over incidents of bullying when he was a student there. A plan made more possible by the fact that Mr. Lanza KNEW the school was a Gun Free Zone, and he’d be met with little-to-NO resistance.
That last little tidbit seems to have been conveniently FORGOTTEN by President Obama, Senator Reid, et al. And, in the true “Alinsky” fashion of never letting a crisis go to waste, the Left has made this tragic event the focal point of their attack against the 2nd Amendment:
“A well-regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed.”
And attack, Obama-&-Company have done.
In speech after speech, the Leader of the Free World and his cronies have argued against one of our nation’s most basic and treasured rights. And just as often, they’ve used lies and distortions as essential elements of their so-called “argument”.
During this seemingly endless firearms grab-a-thon, one of Obama’s more galling tactics has been his repeated use of kids, teachers, grieving parents, etc., as human props during his speeches, in order to lend visual support and create the all-important “air of moral authority”. Recently in Colorado, Barack was at it again, this time bloviating on gun control against a backdrop of law enforcement personnel.
The reaction from those involved, was, shall we say, …”mixed”?
It made me wonder: What DO law enforcement folks think about “Gun Control”? When I ran across this article on the “The Blaze“, I got my answer.
Ever hear of PoliceOne? From their site:
“With more than 1.5 million unique visitors per month and more than 450,000 registered members, PoliceOne is becoming the leading destination for Law Enforcement professionals.”
Over a nine-day period in March 2013, PoliceOne asked 15,000 VERIFIED active and retired law enforcement professionals a series of 20 questions about their views on “gun control”. You can see the full survey here, but here’s just a few of their answers…
Question: What effect do you think a federal ban on manufacture and sale of some semi-automatic firearms, termed by some as “assault weapons,” would have on reducing violent crime?
Answer: NONE (71%)
Question: Do you think a federal ban on manufacture and sale of ammunition magazines that hold more than 10 rounds would reduce violent crime?
Answer: NO (95.7%)
Question: Do you support the concept of a national database tracking all legal gun sales?
Answer: NO (70%)
And finally, my PERSONAL favorite:
Question: On a scale of one to five — (1 being LOW and 5 being HIGH) — how important do you think legally armed citizens are to reducing crime rates overall?
Answer: (either 4 or 5) 76.4%!!! Over 3/4 of the respondents understand that a legally armed populace REDUCES crime!
Of course, maybe we shouldn’t pay attention to these folks. After all, they only see the worst gun violence on our nation’s streets, …every day…, so what could they possibly know, right??
In that case, I suppose we could always ask the OTHER “experts” what THEY think about gun control…
Two Heads are Better Than One 
Thanks for bringing this up. More evidence for the axiom: Gun control is really about citizen control.
Gratitude, CTX…
The President and his lackeys in the MSM are very gifted at trying to re-position an event through lies, half-truths, distortions, and the use of “citizen-props” at events. Then you get Michelle Obama telling you that she has “so much in common” with a young girl that was gunned down in Chicago. But, NO ONE seems able to think about asking our brave men and women in the police force what could be done. Probably because, as you say, the agenda is the elimination of YOUR and MY right to carry or own a weapon. Wayne LaPierre made a statement about then President Clinton that I thought was very “on point”. He basically said that Clinton was comfortable with a certain level of gun violence so that he could use it to promote the Leftist agenda of repealing the 2nd Amendment.
How about we ENFORCE the THOUSANDS of gun laws that are ON THE BOOKS NOW, and see where THAT gets us?
Thanks for taking the time to comment.
Excellent! I’ve read individual reports on what police think but this is the better report. Thanks.
YOU are most welcome!
We get inundated with the results of polls all of the time. Usually it’s a group of less than a thousand people, and suddenly THEY speak for every American. Plus, all too often, it’s simply a matter of HOW they pose the questions.
I like that this was a group of 15,000 active and retired officers, and ALL were VERIFIED as such. The questions are straight forward.
There is a LOT of great info at the Police One website…
They have always used emotion to get people to support something they believe in, like limiting or eliminating Second Amendment Rights. Over a decade ago I asked a police officer about concealed carry law they had just passed here in AZ. He said the people who will get the permit aren’t the problem 99% of the time.
The police understand that law-abiding gun owners aren’t the problem, its why most oppose gun control measures. If Obama and many other liberals had their way, the Second Amendment would be part of our history, not its future.
That’s my fear, Blaine. There are literally THOUSANDS of gun laws on the books and it’s a matter of enforcement. There’s a great deal of emotion around a tradgedy like Sandy Hook, and folks are desperate for answers.
Still, I have to ask about the emotion surrounding the confiscation of our Constitutionally guaranteed right to own weapons. CERTAINLY, the Left and the Obamas of the world realize that when we outlaw guns, only the criminals will have weapons, and the average, every day, law abiding citizen will be vulnerable.
It makes one believe that there MUST be another agenda to this whole pursuit. Let’s ask ourselves this question: “What ELSE might a government have to gain by disarming its citizens”?
Any thoughts?
Excellent post, PGH. Confirms what my husband hears from the cops he knows (they do security 3rd shift at the hotel where he works).
Thank you, my friend….I would imagine that if you polled law enforcement all over the Country, you’d get the same results….
Interesting stats. I work w/ off-duty cops every night. They moonlight as security on my third shift job. They believe in a responsible armed citizenry. Most think that states shouldn’t even have gun permits; The Second Amendment of The U.S. Constitution should be all that is required. Abusing the right by commiting a crime w/ a gun, should be a mandatory sentence and a loss of the right.
I’m sure PGH will respond here, too, Dennis, but until he does…I agree.
We’ve got all SORTS of laws on the books, with many of them redundant. The last thing we need are more of them: just enforce the heck out of abuses/misuses of guns, and be done with it.
Right now, the only folks who are being inconvenienced are the law-abiding folks like you, me, and PGH. I’m thinking the crooks aren’t going through a whole lotta background checks now, and never will… being as they’re crooks.
Thanks so much for taking the time to comment, partner.
😉
WONDERFUL to see you here, …and we appreciate all your support on Facebook, too!
Well, Dennis…..I have to say that I agree with the officers. Since criminals WON’T go through the registration/permit process, the only folks who will are the law abiding citizens. Now, the government has a very nice list of all of those folks, and again, I have to ask: To what end?
ESPECIALLY when you consider the impact of the Supreme Court decision on criminals and gun registration. Stay tuned, and, with the permission of our “Two Heads”, I’m going to submit a post to our readers that will not only blow you away, but will tell you EXACTLY how asinine gun registration is.
Thank you, Dennis, for stopping by and for your comments.
“…Permission granted”.
😉
I had a feeling you’d say that…….but be warned: You need to get the duct tape and a splat-mat, because your head is going to explode…..
Yeah, yeah: promises, promises.
😀
Seriously, PGH, this crew rarely surprises me anymore.
Disgusts? Infuriates? Sure….
But almost NEVER surprises.
Waitin! And watchin!