Arguing gun control with my bro; need links

[fishAK]

Specifically, he thinks the majority of cops are for gun control; I am almost positive that is very far from the truth, but can't find any polls or unbiased numbers to give him. Anyone know of a good source or link??

[Monkeybomb]

Anything I have seen is based on non scientfic methods. The general belief is that only 25% want more gun control and about 75% are Pro gun.

If you were to judge it by my agency it would be much higher for pro-gun.

[pappy1981]

I do not know of any co-workers that are for gun control.

[ERT11]

Same here. No one in my current or former dept. i've talked to is for it.

[Empire02]

This site containing mostly LE or LE support staff (minus a few trolls and hopefulls) speaks volumes with several recent threads on the topic of gun control. From what I have seen the opinon is pretty clear across the board; against it.

Of course there are some exceptions, just do a search and get to reading. Hit the print button and bust out the highlighter if you need to take it even further.

[fishAK]

Thanks everyone. I knew the results...I was just hoping there'd be an official poll of LEO's or something somewhere on the subject that I wasn't aware of.

[Albert Wesker]

You would be very unwise to assume that everyone in LE is a gun nut and 2nd amendment supporter. I personally am for much more restrictive regulations on firearms.

[ddurkof]

The only police officers that I have come in contact with who support gun control are chief's that are appointed by mayors who are pro gun control. They can come up with policy statements, but it is mostly because if they don't support gun control they will lose their jobs.

Most cops know that the gun control people are running a dog and pony show that has little basis in reality and know that the criminals do not follow the laws now.

Get him John Lott's book "More Guns, Less Crime." Lott is a economist and looking at it from a strictly statistical and scientific point of view. If your brother is following his emotions. he may not believe any that statistically dry and boring that proves gun control laws do not work.

[fishAK]

You would be very unwise to assume that everyone in LE is a gun nut and 2nd amendment supporter. I personally am for much more restrictive regulations on firearms.

Not assuming anything of the sort. It would appear, however, that you are in a substantial minority among your peers. "Minority" does not mean "everyone."

[fishAK]

The only police officers that I have come in contact with who support gun control are chief's that are appointed by mayors who are pro gun control. They can come up with policy statements, but it is mostly because if they don't support gun control they will lose their jobs.

Most cops know that the gun control people are running a dog and pony show that has little basis in reality and know that the criminals do not follow the laws now.

Get him John Lott's book "More Guns, Less Crime." Lott is a economist and looking at it from a strictly statistical and scientific point of view. If your brother is following his emotions. he may not believe any that statistically dry and boring that proves gun control laws do not work.

Thanks. I may check that book out. And he claims he is not basing it on emotion at all, and fancies himself an extreme intellectual who only makes decisions or opinions based on logic and rational thought. If I can get some hard numbers to make my point, it would be way more effective than just arguing with him about it.

[KJB]

I am pro gun control. Specifically firearms retention, trigger control, sight alignment, etc...

[Che]

You would be very unwise to assume that everyone in LE is a gun nut and 2nd amendment supporter. I personally am for much more restrictive regulations on firearms.

I have to agree. Remember this is a national forum. CA cops I work with go from one extreme to another. One night I stopped at a traffic stop of another agency. The cop pointed out the out of state plates on the vehicle and said, "I know that hillbilly has a gun in that car!" I said how you know? And his answer was, "simple people like hillbillies think they need guns." They got a speeding ticket and that was it.

One night one of the new female officers came into the sergeant's office and asked if her husband can get a permit to carry a concealed weapon and two of the guys went ballastic. "NO WAY! NO WAY! NO WAY!" What made it interesting is one is hardcore Democrat and the other is a hardcore Republican. The only thing they can agree on is cops carry guns and so do bad guys.

It would be an interesting poll.

[Blackdog F4i]

I think you will often find that cops who are for gun control are the ones who still believe that criminals will obey the law.

It's also pretty funny to see the difference in opinions between LE in large, restrictive cities versus smaller rural areas. The simple fact is that when everyone has guns, you stop worrying about who might have a gun. I my jurisdiction, just about any house I enter or car I stop may have an armed occupant. The lawfully armed ones will often let you know (but are not require to). The illegally armed ones don't. The illegally armed ones as the threat and they are also the ones who really don't care about gun laws.

[IAM Rand]

Like KLB, gun control is making every round count hitting that magic center line along the CNS.

[Albert Wesker]

I am all for requiring background checks for private sales. I am all for all guns being registered. I am all for increasing funding for the ATF so they can go after straw purchasers and people buying, selling, and using weapons illegally. I am all for requiring all potential gun owners to go through a basic educational course (similar to the 8 hour course required for CCW in many states, or hunter education courses). Also I want even stiffer penalties for felons found in possession of firearms.

You see to me gun control means stronger enforcement, better education, and more checks and balances in the system.

[Monkeybomb]

So Albert you are much more Pro Gun than you thought.

[fishAK]

I am all for requiring background checks for private sales. I am all for all guns being registered. I am all for increasing funding for the ATF so they can go after straw purchasers and people buying, selling, and using weapons illegally. I am all for requiring all potential gun owners to go through a basic educational course (similar to the 8 hour course required for CCW in many states, or hunter education courses). Also I want even stiffer penalties for felons found in possession of firearms.

You see to me gun control means stronger enforcement, better education, and more checks and balances in the system.

All of that I pretty much agree with or wouldn't have a huge problem with. I'm a big fan of strict enforcement (and one of the reasons more controls won't work...there already aren't enough "enforcers" to do the job), but I think the most probable compromise would be mandatory education/training.

[JustAJ]

Thanks everyone. I knew the results...I was just hoping there'd be an official poll of LEO's or something somewhere on the subject that I wasn't aware of.

The only "official" polls you see are ones where it's the chief's associations or similar. As someone else pointed out, since these positions are political, they nearly always go anti-gun in an effort to ensure job security. Noone in the media, to my knowledge, has ever bothered to ask the boots on the ground what they think. I file this under the "why f- up a good story with facts?" category.

[Carbonfiberfoot]

http://www.forbes.com/sites/peterfer...-the-gullible/

[fishAK]

http://www.forbes.com/sites/peterfer...-the-gullible/

Thanks...that's a great article.

[gwashburn355]

I think most cops are really just common sense people. Most of us don't want to take guns away from law abiding citizens. But, we don't want our neighbors to have fat man and little boy hanging in their living rooms either! Americans should be able to have their guns with reasonable rules and regs to keep things sane. People that break the rules should get dealt with accordingly.

I have an AR15 for my job. I leave at the station. Were it not for my job I'd have no need for it. I keep a lever action, a shotgun and a pistol at home. They will do nicely if some moron ever decides to bring a fight to my door.

[Carbonfiberfoot]

I think most cops are really just common sense people. Most of us don't want to take guns away from law abiding citizens. But, we don't want our neighbors to have fat man and little boy hanging in their living rooms either! Americans should be able to have their guns with reasonable rules and regs to keep things sane. People that break the rules should get dealt with accordingly.

I have an AR15 for my job. I leave at the station. Were it not for my job I'd have no need for it. I keep a lever action, a shotgun and a pistol at home. They will do nicely if some moron ever decides to bring a fight to my door.

That's all well and good, as a marksman with .22 lever gun is far more effective than a buffoon with an AR. However, I like having the option to be prepared for 8 morons who'd try to bring a fight to my front, back, and side doors.

[Carbonfiberfoot]

Despite there being millions of additional guns, with no limits on magazine size or military features, firearm homicides decreased by 15% from 2007-2011:

http://www.fbi.gov/about-us/cjis/ucr...e-data-table-8

[fishAK]

Yeah, the FBI stats are hard to argue, and in many ways fly in the face of what gun control people WANT you to believe. Unfortunately, a lot of the media is falling in line with them and completely missing, ignoring, or refusing to believe stats that go against their agenda.