Meet the law enforcement allies in the fight for gun safety
newsdepo.com
When it comes to common-sense gun safety laws, at least some major players in law enforcement are on the same page as the rest of the country. The National Law Enforcement Partnership to Prevent Gun Violence is made up of nine different police leadership orgMeet the law enforcement allies in the fight for gun safety
When it comes to common-sense gun safety laws, at least some major players in law enforcement are on the same page as the rest of the country. The National Law Enforcement Partnership to Prevent Gun Violence is made up of nine different police leadership organizations, including groups representing African-American, Hispanic, and women command officers. Its website lists several solutions that a growing number of Americans agree should be enacted: Requiring universal background checks for all gun purchasers. Strengthening NICS, the National Instant Criminal Background Check System. Limiting the size of high-capacity ammunition magazines to 10 rounds. Opposing federal preemption of state laws governing the carry of concealed weapons. Strengthening the penalties for straw purchases of guns. Making firearms trafficking a federal crime. Passing “red flag” laws, which allow officials to remove guns from people who threaten to commit violence against themselves or others. Seven of the nine groups also support banning the sale of new semi-automatic assault weapons. There are approximately 900,000 sworn police officers (meaning those with powers to make an arrest) in 18,000 police agencies in the United States, and they’ve got a variety of opinions on gun laws. Polling on what police think about gun safety laws specifically is spotty and varied. One poll reports that 82 percent of police chiefs favor background checks before any weapons purchase. Other polls say that 86 percent of police chiefs favor concealed carry, and that large numbers of rank-and-file police officers oppose bans on sales of high-capacity magazines. The most recent polling from the Pew Research Center shows that two-thirds of police oppose a ban on assault-style weapons, contrasted with a similar number of the public in favor of such a ban. What the National Law Enforcement Partnership group does, as its website says, is to “inform elected officials and the public of the policies we need to better protect our nation.” The partnership, which covers the majority of police command groups representing chiefs, executives, and command staff, supports progressive gun violence and firearm safety proposals. And although the partnership itself is nonpartisan, those proposals are coming from Democrats. Read more