The 28th Annual National Survey of Police Chiefs shows that “76 percent” of respondents believe armed citizens reduce violent crime.
An even higher percentage–nearly 88–stated their conviction that “any vetted citizen” should be able to purchase a gun “for sport or self-defense.”
According to the survey, nearly “87 percent” of police chiefs support national reciprocity of concealed carry permits. National reciprocity would treat concealed carry permits like a driver’s license, making the concealed carry permit of any state valid in every state. This would do away the headaches law-abiding citizens get by trying to remember which states recognize their permit and which do not. It would also make life easier for patrol officers during a traffic stop by giving them a more unified set of permit rules to remember.
The negative responses in the survey are also telling. When asked if “any vetted citizen” should be able to buy a gun “for sport or self-defense,” only “9 percent” said “no.” When asked if armed citizens reduce violent crime less than 19 percent said “no.” When asked if their department supports national reciprocity only “10.6 percent” said “no.”
AWR Hawkins is the Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and political analyst for Armed American Radio. Follow him on Twitter: @AWRHawkins. Reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart.com