The Detailed Survey Showing Law Enforcement Personnel Overwhelmingly Oppose Obama's Gun Control Proposals

(Photo: Shutterstock/Gary Blakeley)

Law enforcement personnel in the United States overwhelmingly disagree with the controversial gun control measures being debated in Washington and across the country, according to a new survey released by PoliceOne.

A law enforcement website with more than 1.5 million unique visitors per month and 400,000 registered members, PoliceOne asked more than 15,000 verified active and retired law enforcement personnel more than 20 questions about how they believe stricter gun control will impact the community.

The participants were spread out across the country, and about 80 percent were current law enforcement, 20 percent former/retired.

Here are some of the results of the survey, which was conducted between March 4 and March 13:

• Nearly 96 percent said that a ban on standard capacity magazines with more than 10 rounds would not reduce violent crime. 

(Photo: PoliceOne)

• More than 81 percent said that “gun buy-backs” do not reduce gun violence. 

• Nearly 80 percent said that a ban on private transfers of firearms between law-abiding citizens would not reduce violent crime. 
• 71 percent said that a ban on “assault weapons” would have no impact on reducing violent crime.  20.5 percent said it would actually have a ​negative ​impact.

(Photo: PoliceOne)

• More than 70 percent opposed the idea of a national database of legal gun sales. 
• Nearly 68 percent said magazine capacity restrictions would negatively affect them personally. 
• More than 60 percent said that the passage of Obama’s gun control legislation would do nothing to improve officer safety.  Nearly 25 percent said it would actually have a ​negative​ impact.

(Photo: PoliceOne)

On the other hand:

• More than 76 percent responded with either a 4 or 5 when asked on a scale of 1-5 how important legally armed citizens are to reducing overall crime.
• 80 percent believe legally armed citizens can reduce casualties in incidents of mass violence.

(Photo: PoliceOne)

• More than 91 percent stated they supported the Right-to-Carry by law abiding Americans.
• More than 76 percent support the arming of trained and qualified teachers or administrators who volunteer to carry a firearm.

Bottom line:

• Nearly 45 percent said that if they were Sheriff or Chief, they would not enforce more restrictive gun laws, and would vocally join the opposition effort.  Another 17.2 percent said they would not enforce the laws, and "quietly lead the agency in the opposite direction."  20 percent were unsure of how they would respond.

(Photo: PoliceOne)

Glenn Beck and many others have been saying that Americans need to encourage local sheriffs to stand up against gun control measures.

“I’m telling you the sheriffs are the last line of defense, because the sheriffs don’t answer to the governor, the sheriffs don’t answer to the legislature," Beck said.  "The sheriffs only answer to two things:  You and the Constitution."

Executive director of the NRA's Institute for Legislative Action Chris Cox weighed in: “The American people, and particularly the members of law enforcement, want politicians in Washington to stop pursuing a failed political agenda and get to work fixing our broken mental health system, improving school security, and getting criminals off the streets."

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