When the National Association of Chiefs of Police (NACOP) published the results of its annual survey of “command-level” police and sheriffs earlier this week, the results may have caught the gun prohibition lobby off guard.
The 28th annual NACOP survey was mailed to more than 17,000 law enforcement agencies around the country. The survey results appear in the current issue of The Chief of Police, a quarterly NACOP publication, according to NACOP CFO Brent Shepherd. He acknowledged that this is an unscientific survey.
NACOP is a national organization based in Florida.
According to the survey results, 87.9 percent of survey respondents believe that “any vetted citizen” should be able to purchase a firearm for sport or self-defense, and 86.4 percent support “nationwide recognition of state issued concealed weapon permits.”
Alan Gottlieb, chairman of the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms, observed, “You can bet anti-gunners never saw that coming.”
Something else that may surprise gun prohibitionists, which makes it less likely they will ever discuss it, is that the survey found that 76 percent of the respondents believe law-abiding armed citizens can help law enforcement reduce criminal activity.
Gottlieb suggested that the survey results “could give headaches to the gun prohibition lobby.”
“The results of this survey should really surprise nobody,” Gottlieb said in a statement to the press. “Law-abiding gun owners have traditionally been the strongest supporters of law enforcement, and we’ve known for decades that the overwhelming majority of police and sheriffs support the rights of honest citizens to own firearms for all kinds of uses.
“Of course,” he added, “gun prohibitionists never even acknowledge this sort of information because it does not fit their agenda or their narrative. We, on the other hand, believe the public has a right to know where law enforcement stands.”
There has been a heated national debate over guns for the past few months, exacerbated by the terror attack in Orlando and the murders of five Dallas police officers last week by a gunman who targeted them.
Congressional anti-gunners had been pushing for various measures prior to the summer recess, and with national elections looming in November, it’s a safe bet they will continue their demands as a campaign tactic.
