After my most recent column about guns, some readers felt my article was out of step with the local sentiment. They wanted more information about how Republicans feel about the issues, while others wanted to know what the police think. Some wondered whether felons are more likely to be connected to gun crimes.
To research law enforcement views, I utilized research by Tammy Rinehart Kochel and Scott W. Phillips, in an article titled “The Views of Police Officers Toward Gun Legislation and Public Health Policies Driven by Firearm Safety Concerns.” And here is what they found.
“We surveyed police from three jurisdictions to establish a baseline understanding of officers’ views about potential gun legislation and identify possible resistance and implementation barriers of firearms laws. The findings suggest that those responsible for enforcing new laws show limited or mixed support for the same. Officers were most supportive of laws that increase the presence of trained gun owners within certain contexts and ensure that individuals with criminal backgrounds or mental health concerns do not have access to firearms. Most officers support prohibiting gun ownership following conviction of a domestic violence offense.” That is what I supported in my column from last week.
“However, officers generally opposed gun legislation banning assault weapons, large capacity magazines, and internet ammunition purchases.” That’s a different position from what my evidence showed last week. So we disagree; reasonable people can do that. But these surveys also show the individual officers support requiring buyers to undergo a background check or to obtain a license via local police before purchasing a gun.
“Finally, officers with the Buffalo Police Department – which recently had experienced an active-shooter event – were more supportive of almost all types of legislation,” the authors conclude. “Respondents expressing greater concern about officer safety related to firearms were supportive of several types of firearm legislation.”
As for figuring out what Republicans support, I rely on research from JHS. “[R]esearchers from the Johns Hopkins Center for Gun Violence Solutions found wide support for gun violence prevention policies across political lines and among both gun owners and non-owners.” The report shows a majority of Republicans support (a) safe and secure gun storage policies, (b) requiring a person to obtain a license from law enforcement before purchasing a firearm, (c) funding of community-based gun violence prevention programs, (d) red flag laws for family-initiated extreme risk protection order (ERPO) or those for licensed health care-initiated ERPOs, or law enforcement initiated ERPOs, as well as (e) temporarily removing guns during a domestic violence protection order (DVPO), and (f) oppose laws enabling one to carry a firearm in public without a permit.
As for felons and guns, the US Sentencing Commission reported “Of the nearly 230,000 firearms trafficked between 2017 and 2021, 60% were delivered to a convicted felon.” They add that urban gun violence research found nearly two-thirds of suspects and victims “had been known to the criminal justice system.”
John A. Tures is Professor of Political Science and Coordinator of the Political Science Program at LaGrange College, in LaGrange, Georgia. His first book, “Branded”, is available on Amazon. He can be reached at jtures@lagrange.edu.