Non-partisan poll of law enforcement

[BStrong]

http://www.policeone.com/corporate-...Professionals-about-U-S-Gun-Control-Policies/

March 2013 survey of police officers covered proposed legislation and attitudes about arming citizens

SAN FRANCISCO – PoliceOne.com, the leading online resource for law enforcement, today released findings from a national survey of police professionals that provide insight into the opinions of American law enforcement regarding gun control policies and the root causes of and potential solutions to gun crime in the United States.

Similarly, 92 percent feel that banning semi-automatic firearms, or “assault weapons,” would have no effect or a negative effect on reducing violent crime

 

[Puppycow]

Why are "semi-automatic firearms" conflated with "assault weapons"?

 

[leisureclass]

The survey is pretty much worthless. It's not a truly random sample; it's the opinion of whichever registered users at PoliceOne.com felt like filling it out. Moreover, the questions are somewhat biased, given that they tie the proposals to the White House, which can influence a respondent's answer.

Moreover, given that Praetorian Group (the survey's sponsors) helps companies market to police departments, it's worth questioning whether there's a conflict of interest given that they represent gun manufacturers and other tactical supply companies.

Apparently I can't post links yet, but you can get the full survey results from the press release, and googling Praetorian Group will show you the company's website, which is geared towards "Security and Public Safety Companies."

ETA: If you google the name of the two Praetorian Group officers, Alex Gordon and Michael Herning, you'll find that Herning apparently owns a bunch of sporting goods stores, which in my neck of the woods means hunting rifles and things of that nature.

 

[bob_kark]

PoliceOne’s Gun Policy & Law Enforcement survey was conducted online on PoliceOne.com between March 4 and March 13, 2013. The survey was composed and compiled by PoliceOne staff along with staff from the Praetorian Group, PoliceOne’s parent company. It received more than 15,000 responses from adults who reside in the U.S. and who are either current or former/retired Law Enforcement, as verified by a qualifying question at the beginning of the survey. The survey sample size was broadly distributed by geography and rank in proportion to the U.S. law enforcement community at large. Additionally, survey promotion was limited to PoliceOne’s audience of verified law enforcement professionals, and conducted via exposure both on PoliceOne.com as well as through email newsletters and a full-membership email promotion. A longer description of the survey methodology can be found at www.policeone.com/police-gun-survey-methodology.

So, they polled people that came to their site, for one ENTIRE week, and asked "hey anonymous internet user, are you a current or former law enforcement agent? Well, good enough anyway! Could you respond to this poll?"

Keep in mind, this is a website that currently has a headline stating:

Police: Citizens Should Act to Stop Mass Shootings

The comments on the story are priceless.

So, we have a poll that could be easily falsified by respondents and is already likely to have built in bias, due to the apparent slant of the website. While the majority of officers may feel this way, I don't believe this "poll" is proof of that.

 

[fuelair]

Why are "semi-automatic firearms" conflated with "assault weapons"?

Possibly because for the purpose of US law (Constitution, that stuff) assault weapon is (take your choice) a false term for civilian arms that appear like military weapons but ARE NOT CAPABLE OF FULLY AUTOMATIC FIRE OR OF THREE SHOT BURST FIRE OR they are purely military weapons with those capabilities for individual soldier use and not available to civilians without VERY hefty federal paperwork.

A Colt .45 is a semiautomatic weapon, a "Bushmaster" is a semiautomatic weapon and the Bushmaster is sometimes called an assault weapon by the ignorant. On the other hand, an M-16 or fully/burst auto (one pull of triigger, multiple rounds fired) AK-47 is an assault weapon/assault rifle though both may be fired single shot (my preference certainly - I want to hit what I am shooting at and be able to acquire another target in combat situations - or hunting if I was a hunter) and may be legitimately be called an automatic weapon. These are only interchangeble to those who do not like weapons and/or like to remain ignorant and easily challengeable on important details.

 

[BStrong]

FWIW, the poll isn't out-of-line with other surveys of working cops (as opposed to administrators)

http://www.largo.org/LEAA.html

 

[leisureclass]

FWIW, the poll isn't out-of-line with other surveys of working cops (as opposed to administrators)

I'm not seeing the survey you reference there, but the LEAA is hardly an unbiased source. Among other things, they get around $500K per year from the NRA. See stealthpacs.org/profile.cfm?org_id=175.

 

[BStrong]

Why are "semi-automatic firearms" conflated with "assault weapons"?

You can thank Josh Sugarman for that one:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Josh_Sugarmann

"Assault weapons—just like armor-piercing bullets, machine guns, and plastic firearms—are a new topic. The weapons' menacing looks, coupled with the public's confusion over fully automatic machine guns versus semi-automatic assault weapons—anything that looks like a machine gun is assumed to be a machine gun—can only increase the chance of public support for restrictions on these weapons. In addition, few people can envision a practical use for these weapons."

 

[Skeptical Greg]

.... In addition, few people can envision a practical use for these weapons."

What is the practical use for any gun, besides killing something ?

 

[Ziggurat]

Why are "semi-automatic firearms" conflated with "assault weapons"?

Because that's basically the only non-cosmetic feature of "assault weapons" as defined in legislation that bans "assault weapons".

 

[Puppycow]

Because that's basically the only non-cosmetic feature of "assault weapons" as defined in legislation that bans "assault weapons".

For the record I don't think guns should be banned based on cosmetic features. Most modern firearms are semiautomatic I believe. But not all semiautomatic firearms are considered "assault weapons".