As a policeone.com survey revealed, the majority of U.S. police officers support an armed citizenry. Why wouldn’t they? With their hands-on experience dealing with criminals, they know how effective personal arms can be. They don’t live in protected, “green zone” enclaves. They have non-police friends, family and associates. Many if not most have had positive experiences with armed defenders. In short, police and Sheriff Departments are a rich source of natural allies for defenders of American gun rights . . .
Police that support the Second Amendment give disarmists nightmares. In theory, all police should support Americans’ gun rights. From LA to NY, from Chicago to San Antonio, all law enforcement officers take an oath to support and defend the Constitution of the United States. The oath has been ignored by many for decades. That is changing.
The recent success of the concealed carry movement persuaded police chiefs like James Craig of Detroit [above] to tout the benefits of armed self defense. Once Chief Craig was on board, the whole tone of the City of Detroit about armed citizens changed. Armed self defense is celebrated in the City. Sheriff David Clarke won reelection as a Second Amendment Supporter against a Bloomberg funded campaign in Milwaukee.
This year, Sheriff Daryl Wheeler of Bonner County, Idaho rallied to support the Second Amendment rights of one of his constituents:
On August 6, residents and Bonner County Sheriff Daryl Wheeler lined up outside the Priest River, Idaho, home of veteran John Arnold to prevent the Veterans Administration (VA) from taking away his guns.
The same month, Police Chief Jeffrey Horvath of Lewes, Delaware, refuses to enforce an unconstitutional law:
From the police department’s side, Chief Jeffrey Horvath said the idea of enforcing something he sees as unconstitutional is untenable.
“The Delaware constitution says you have the right to keep and bear arms. That’s exactly how it’s worded,” Chief Horvath said.
In May of 2013 Sheriff Timothy B. Howard of New York said that the SAFE act is Unconstitutional, and he will not enforce it.:
“I’m more than reluctant,” he said of the new law Thursday. “I won’t enforce it.”
Howard, one of four sheriffs who joined in filing the brief this week, said he considers the law unconstitutional and a waste of valuable resources, and believes it will ultimately be overturned by the courts.
Sheriff Howard was reelected.
Liberty County Sheriff Nick Finch of Florida refused to charge a law abiding citizen with carrying a gun in his pocket. A state prosecutor charged him with crimes, but a jury vindicated him.
“Nick Finch, the Florida sheriff arrested in June after he defended the Second Amendment, has been declared ‘not guilty’ of the charges brought against him by the State of Florida, according to [former Graham County, Arizona, Sheriff] Richard Mack.
Where police support the Second Amendment, it is secure. Politically, when police leaders decide that armed citizens are allies instead of enemies, we have won. When State Police testified for Constitutional Carry, even with a Democrat majority, Constitutional Carry won.
Sheriffs can be elected directly. Mayors and City Councils can be pushed to hire Police Chiefs who take their oath seriously. Governors can be pushed to appoint State Police leaders with the correct attitude. Officers with bad attitudes should be identified and disciplined. Activism by 2A advocates has resulted in numerous legal settlements and positive training changes for police departments across the country.
In the worst case, police patriots will be crucial intelligence assets in restoring the Constitution against a tyrannical government. The time to develop those assets is now. When the government cannot trust police to follow unconstitutional orders, tyranny becomes harder. Recruit police to the side of the Constitution. It kills gun control.
©2015 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice and link are included. Link to Gun Watch
It doesn’t matter how pro-2A you are as a LEO, there is always some quack out there accusing you of shredding the constitution and stepping on necks, of course none of those claims are supported by any evidence.
I think Clarke makes a great pro-2a voice. His presence and speaking abilities are top notch. I have yet to see him flub and interview on TV.
You can be pro-2A all the way and still disregard the 4th and 5th. How many of those respondents at PoliceOne who claimed 2A support would try to stop someone from recording them in public?
You can ask the same thing about the left. The official position of the ACLU, big supporters of the 4th amendment, is that the second amendment right to individual firearms ownership does not exist.
I would bet the police officer who supports your 2A rights is more a supporter of all your civil rights than the aclu is.
Note to Editors/Author: Please fix the attribute for the image. That is David Clarke.
I am a long retired Chief of a very small department and I very strongly believe unlimited constitutional Carry without geographical or choice of weapon restriction. My strong beliefs do not place me in the not in the minority among active and retired LEOs.
Although the same is probably not true concerning my support of the legalized dueling coalition. Our mission statement:
“An armed society is a polite society.Manners are good when one may have to back up his acts with his life”. (with apologies to Robert Heinlein)
That’s actually a good idea. If dueling were legal, I’d bet dozens of falsely accused people would be lining up to challenge clowns like Bloomberg and the leadership cabal of the CSGV.
Bloomberg may be a small target, but I’d duel him in defense of the Second Amendment… but he’d probably hire a pro as his second.
Why is my edit time less than one minute? Then when I tried to post this, it’s “Slow down, you are posting too quickly”? Is it just me, or is that annoying?
Because WordPress is broken and TTAG needs to move on to a new system.
While not all cops are assholes, the failure of the cops to deal with scumbags who flashbang the wrong house tends to put the rational people in society in conflict with the police in general. Here’s a note to any pro-2A cops out there. Don’t just quit covering for scumbags. Do everything in your power to get those idiots out of your respective departments.
I’m more saddened by the DAs and AGs who are not dealing with incompetent cops who flashbang the wrong homes. There are dozens of charges that those raid team could and should be charged with. The rise in SWAT has put the least rational most testosterone filled asses in positions where they don’t need to be. A few criminal charges and some civil rights lawsuit wins and maybe this SWAT trend can reverse and we can go back to the effective policing we were doing in the late 90s.
I rather enjoy the thought of random meathead scumbags, who should never have gotten a badge in the first place, in a maximum security sphincter expansion center. I think those guys would be very “popular” in gen-pop.
If only the cops didn’t get special treatment when they go to jail. You or I? We get tossed in with the gangs and told to fend for ourselves. Then? We need to protect them from the people who they were probably jackbooting a few weeks earlier.
Please do.
You speak the truth.
Damn broken edit feature…
Meant to add:
Good cops who do not stop bad cops are not good cops.
Serpico would agree. http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2014/10/the-police-are-still-out-of-control-112160?o=0
Now if policeone.com will just reveal its comments section to the great unwashed. You know, the people who pay their damn salaries and are actually their damn bosses.
I’ve seen the comments. A lot of complete disregard for Due Process or any sort of law beyond “Judge Dredd”-style “I AM THE LAW” feelings. Of course, being an online community, it’s impossible to verify if the posters were actual LEOs…
1) Just because you pay a tiny percentage of my salary (you don’t, by the way, unless this is a real big coincidence) doesn’t make you my boss… at least no more than it makes me my own boss! 🙂
2) Never read the comments. I don’t know about police one but I know there’s at least one cop forum online that I wouldn’t recommend as it has no real verification and it seems like people there are more interested in circle-jerking each other than actually talking about issues.
This is refreshing , I hope some of the cop bashers will step forth and swallow their animosity and contempt and throw a little praise here or just not comment at all . We all know there are scum bags for cops out there , there are these type people everywhere , we know , so lets show some praise for a change . They will be our second line of defense if SHTF , first line of coarse is on our hips .
The problem is not that all cops are scumbags. The problem is that the ones who aren’t support a union that covers for ones that are.
So the problem isn’t cops but unions . OK , I can live with that , Original purpose of a union is now being preformed by a Federal Agency and now all unions do is protect the riffraff from being fired . That is an arguable conclusion just not to be argued here , but I’ll pass the baton .
Some cops are a problem, a good example is 90% of the NYPD.
85% of the people in NYC are crazy and the other 15% are insane , that may be the problem with the police and of coarse , the unions . Just my opinion , but I think you have to be a little whacky to live in NYC . Did you mean all police officers in the state of NY ?
They claim 500 supporting members and 300 “trained” folks. I’d like to see a list, both to verify the claims and to see if the local sheriffs are there. I figure for an elected position like that, if you are intending to stand and be counted, your membership is fair game.
There are at least three here in California, my county and the counties just north and south. I suspect there are a few more, since I can think of five counties that are essentially “shall issue” in my area. Then again, we are rural areas of the state.
I’m 99.999% certain that Laura Smith, Sheriff of Santa Clara County is absolutely NOWHERE near that list. If she is I’ll personally go up to her and kiss her ass. I’ve heard the only way to get a CCW out of her is to ‘donate’ 10 grand to her re-election.
“Why wouldn’t they?” Because they are part of a union.
That’s not James Craig of DPD [above]
You should probably fix that…
Beat me to it. That’s Sheriff Clarke.
Yup you can tell by the extensive pin collection…
David Clarke for President!!! We may have to write him in this time, however. CLARKE-TRUMP ’16!!!!
Please , you’re kidding aren’t you . If America elects Trump , just toss out the Constitution and the Bill of Rights and sit back and wait for the renaming of the USA to Trump Land . You can’t be serious and be a thoughtful believer in and respecter of the US Constitution . ( Just my Opinion )
“Nick Finch, the Florida sheriff arrested in June after he defended the Second Amendment, has been declared ‘not guilty’ of the charges brought against him by the State of Florida, according to [former Graham County, Arizona, Sheriff] Richard Mack.
Nick Finch NEEDS to go after the State prosecutor for violating the 2nd by prosecuting and Sgt. James Joseph Hoagland of the Liberty County Sheriff’s Office for violating the law,2nd Amendment. If Sgt. James Joseph Hoagland knew and informed the Constitution it would have saved the tax payers a LOT of money.
No double standards put the DC politicians on Obamacare and SS.Thanks for your support and vote.Pass the word. mrpresident2016.com
>believes in policeone
Meanwhile the vast majority of police chiefs (i.e. the people who give orders to the cops) are anti-2A.
Those are castrated old men who are appointed by local Feminazi’s to do their bidding. The real law enforcement chiefs in this country are the sheriff’s ELECTED by the people to uphold the law who support and defend the constitution.
And yet, the cops follow orders from them like good little jackbooted thugs.
What did you do, poll every Chief of Police in the country? Or are you just fabricating “facts” based on your own anecdotal experiences?
The big city police chiefs are appointed by big city mayors, who are almost all left-wing statists elected by left-wing voters. Meanwhile, in small town America, there are plenty of pro-2A mayors who appoint pro-2A police chiefs.
There’s always a chain of command leading up to the voters. If you want to get to the root of the problem, start there.
Curtis is correct.
For the most part, chiefs of police don’t come with political opinions, their political views are issued to them along with their gold badges and general’s stars.
Sheriffs have to be somewhat responsive to the political views of the voters, but like most politicians they’re elected for their views, not handed their views after the election.
The only people police should be in favor of disarming are the black gangbangers who are killing them everyday.
Too bad there’s a gangbanger in the White House preventing the police from disarming them.
What about the white people that kill as well…how about we just say bad people of all races and ethnicities. After all, we’re all the same but with different lifestyles and skin colors
Good point , it seems that someone needs to point it out occasionally .
Man oh man, the way some of you talk on this blog must be shit heads……….. I have seen that most police officers and this is in Nevada are pretty good cops. Now I was born in Kalifornia, and as far as I care the state is a shithead place. I also spent 25 years in AZ. and those dumb asses as some say were pretty cool duds. But what the hell if you are a target as they are, then you might know better. A lot of those cops are warriors from the military.
p.s. I am a ccw carrier and never been in the force. Always watch your six.
Did you say cops are targets???
http://photographyisnotacrime.com/2015/09/fabricated-cop-shootings-add-fuel-to-fabricated-war-on-police/
A poll of actual rank and file police officers who don’t have a political motivation in espousing their views is quite telling on where law enforcement actually stands.
The views of chiefs and sheriffs on guns are meaningless in gathering a law enforcement perspective because their views can only be political nature. They’re either political appointees in the case of chiefs, or politically elected in the case of sheriffs. In that regards, you can expect them to tow a party line on their gun stances either way so as to not alienate the mayor who appointed the chief or the voters of the area who will re-elect the sheriff.
Good post. Cops are people and include all the flaws therein. They definitely shouldn’t be the only ones with guns.
He should pin a few more medals to his jacket.
TTAG,
Agree with everything you wrote. Only sheriff in Illinois that I know if that follows the Constitution in terms of gun rights specifically is this guy:
https://youtu.be/K2R-ofZJQKs
The sheriff of Crook County and Chicago police superdrunk (Gary Mccarthy) hate citizens who tool up. Rational thinking people would see Detroit as a huge success…not so much in chi-town.
The person in that video is George Howard, who was a candidate for Sheriff in Mercer County but came in second in a three-way race. He is not a Sheriff.
The winner of last fall’s election, and the current Sheriff of Mercer County, is David Staley.
Is there a break-down by state? Because there’s just no way that majority of NJ cops are pro gun. I think the same is true for other blue states. I mean, how pro gun could they be, if the NJSP uniforms are almost an exact copy of the Nazi uniforms.
Fack Sheriff Clarke
Great Sheriff. Just love how he shrugged off Bloomturd’s brag and the bought and paid for candidate and the sleazy MDA style sock puppetry to try to take him out of office last election.
“I’ve left it up to the voters”. Classy guy.
http://fox6now.com/2014/08/12/money-at-the-heart-of-the-milwaukee-county-sheriffs-race-will-big-spending-unseat-david-clarke/
“The best way to deal with the mudslinging and negative reporting is just to go out and beat them”.
More on Sheriff Clarke (the guy in the picture) from Dave Kopel.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/volokh-conspiracy/wp/2014/08/13/pro-gun-milwaukee-sheriff-defeats-challenge-from-bloomberg/
“Consider taking a certified safety course in handling of firearms, so you can defend yourself until we get there. You have a duty to protect yourself and your family. We’re partners now. Can I count on you?”
Its a fact most County sheriffs support the 2nd amendment and most Chiefs of police do not.
Why? you might ask…
Easy one!!!!
County Sheriffs are held accountable by the people they serve.
Chiefs of police are with out exception political hacks who are only accountable to the Mayors they serve.
They will say and do what ever their puppet master wants then to do.
Support your Sheriffs!!!
The aclu will not protect you from criminals. But my gun supported by my 2A sheriff will. The aclu lawyers will collect a nice fat check from some loser in a court case however.