The National Association of Chiefs of Police (NACOP) has released its "17th Annual National Survey of Police Chiefs & Sheriffs," and the responses show, yet again, that our nation's law enforcement officers staunchly support our Right to Keep and Bear Arms. The survey was sent to more than 22,000 Chiefs of Police and Sheriffs, and represents a cross section of professional command officers involving every state in the country.
According to a recent PHXnews.com article, NACOP asserts that " the public perception of how police view certain issues is based on media coverage, which is not necessarily accurate. When police chiefs and sheriffs are allowed to respond to poll questions anonymously, the politics may be removed from their answers."
The survey's results certainly seem to reflect that contention. Among the highlights:
- 93.6% of the respondents supported civilian gun-ownership rights;
- 96% of the police chiefs and sheriffs believe criminals obtain firearms from illegal sources, and;
- 63.1% believe concealed-weapons permits would reduce violent crime
Even though the media and anti-gun organizations frequently use politically-motivated, anti-gun police bureaucrats to promote their gun-ban message, the fact is that the vast majority of law enforcement officers reject this extremist, anti-gun agenda.
To view the entire survey, please visit http://www.aphf.org/surveyresults.pdf.