Guest Post: Gun Owners’ Message To Law Enforcement: Stand With Us!

Coming in from a retired military source who wishes to remain anonymous, he was spurred to write based on the recent writings of Matt Bracken, Derek Collins and Wes Rhiner, each examining the issues we’re currently facing. His question regard the legal exemptions placed on Law Enforcement for firearms laws in a large number of severely restrictive states. If there is no equal application of law, is there law at all? – NCS

“Bad men need no more to compass their ends, than that good men should look on and do nothing.” – John Stuart Mill

Law-abiding American gun owners stand with law enforcement, and American law enforcement must stand with us. Elitist politicians across the country are advancing draconian national, state, and local gun control schemes that will do nothing to deter criminal activity and will only undermine honest Americans’ natural right and responsibility to provide for their own safety and security.

Participating in Second Amendment marches and rallies, calling and emailing legislators, writing letters to the editor, and engaging in social media discussions are all worthy pursuits, but according to some studies only 30-40% of US households have firearms. Gun owners are a minority in modern America and we need a new strategy if we hope to defeat bad public policy and defend Second Amendment civil liberties. Responsible gun owners are also law enforcement’s strongest support group and we, in turn, need—and deserve— law enforcement’s public support of our interests. We need law enforcement to stand with us!

Several times the best-known Second Amendment advocacy groups have been approached with a recommendation to draw law enforcement’s unions and associations—their political organizations–into our camp, but those Second Amendment groups have for the most part been non-responsive. In one case they said trying to get law enforcement into the public policy debate was “too hard,” but sometimes that which is hard is the thing most worth doing, and at this point what do we have to lose? Law enforcement stand with us!

In April 2018 the Deerfield Illinois Village Board passed a sweeping ban on commonly used sporting arms and standard capacity magazines; what the board called “assault weapons” and “high capacity magazines.” Not everyone in Deerfield was subject to the village’s onerous ordinance, however. Law enforcement officers’ (LEOs) and retired LEOs’ privately owned firearms were exempt. That’s worth repeating: cops’ and retired cops’ personally owned gun collections were exempt from the ban. The Deerfield ordinance emotionally decries “…assault weapons are dangerous and unusual weapons which are commonly associated with the military..,” yet active and retired military personnel were granted no exemption from the ban. That logic requires some mental gymnastics, or perhaps simply an acknowledgment law enforcement in Deerfield are more politically astute and well connected than military personnel and other law-abiding citizens. In any case, the exemption bought law enforcement’s silence, the village’s cops were able to keep their personal gun collections, and the ordinance was approved by the village board.

The Deerfield case is not unique, however. The same exemptions for LEOs’ and retired LEOs’ privately owned firearms are seen at the state and local level throughout the country: California, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Boulder CO, Highland Park IL, and the list goes on. All have LEO exemptions for privately owned firearms collections. Those officers who are exempt from the laws and ordinances they are tasked to enforce will have a difficult time explaining their “above the law” status to the gun-owning taxpayers (and their friends and neighbors) in the communities they serve. The exemptions must stop. We are all equal citizens and should remain so under the law. No law enforcement gun registration or ban exemptions. Stand with us! A fairly senior state level Fraternal Order of Police (FOP) member intimated his union is working with the police chiefs association in his state to better educate state law-makers on proposed gun control legislation. He also said their groups’ biggest problem was how the police will enforce the proposed new laws (which include a firearms registration and ban scheme, an elimination of private firearm sales among law-abiding citizens, and other measures) with a shortage of enforcement resources. Their problem would be solved if they worked in concert with law-abiding gun owners to defeat bad legislation BEFORE it becomes law. Eliminate the LEO exemptions and suddenly cops have tangible skin in the game—their private firearms collections—and additional incentive to actively and publicly oppose flawed legislation.
The FOP representative went on to say a large majority of FOP members support the Second Amendment and don’t want to see law-abiding citizens punished. When will the national FOP, its state organizations, and the local police union lodges publicly speak out to reflect the majority views of their members? When will they follow the courageous, principled, rational, and public stand taken by many of the nation’s sheriffs? The time is now. Stand with us!

Police chiefs and sheriffs should publicly speak out against bad legislation and defend the free exercise of Second Amendment civil liberties by lawful, gunowning Americans. The police chiefs and sheriffs must ensure their respective associations reflect those views during the national, state, and local policy making processes, and refuse to be bought off with exemptions. Perhaps most importantly, it’s time for rank and file and retired LEOs to insist their department leadership, union, and other political representatives reflect the rank and file’s majority views—even if it means giving up their exemptions. The time has passed to look on and do nothing. Stand on principle. With law enforcement’s thoughtful, articulate and public backing we can avert the years of lengthy and expensive legal battles necessary to overturn bad legislation. We will also ensure all citizens enjoy equal protection under the law without carve outs for the politically clever and well-connected. Most importantly, we will compel law-makers to focus their energies on effective public policy rather on emotionally charged, counterproductive, and tired schemes targeted at compliance-oriented and honest Americans. Law enforcement: Stand with us!

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About the Author: NC Scout

NC Scout is the nom de guerre of a former Infantry Scout and Sergeant in one of the Army’s best Reconnaissance Units. He has combat tours in both Iraq and Afghanistan. He teaches a series of courses focusing on small unit skills rarely if ever taught anywhere else in the prepping and survival field, including his RTO Course which focuses on small unit communications. In his free time he is an avid hunter, bushcrafter, writer, long range shooter, prepper, amateur radio operator and Libertarian activist. He can be contacted at [email protected] or via his blog at brushbeater.wordpress.com .

10 Comments

  1. Anonymous January 13, 2020 at 09:15

    5

  2. Anom January 13, 2020 at 10:03

    Some animals are more equal than others.*** Animal Farm

  3. Cavguy January 13, 2020 at 10:09

    I see why you don’t want to be associated with this article of yours you chuck. Hahahaha really orks stand with us? Sir you might stand with the orks but not ALL of the law abiding do. Me, I’ll be standing as far away from them as humanly possible.

    Never talk to the police
    They mean you no good
    They are paid guns to ENFORCE government decrees
    They collect evidence to prove you guilty in a court

    Just ask LaVoy Finicum!! If you have any questions!!!

    Remember folks to keep your local lists current!!!

    Hips and heads, hips and heads

    20 January 2020/ six days and a wake up!!

    Cavguy

    (mr fbi, dhs and fusion center hero these comments are for entertainment only and do not reflect any reality).

  4. leflard January 13, 2020 at 11:35

    They won’t because paycheck and status. We, the dirt people, must come to grips with the fact that the US is no longer a republic as we have a 2 tiered justice system which eliminates rule of law that is an essential component for a republic to exist. Voting doesn’t work, petitions do not work, protests do not work. The battlefield has changed, so must our tactics. Any LEO (funny they are no longer called Peace Officers, huh?) that enforces an unconstitutional gun law is nothing but a Red Coat and must be treated accordingly.

  5. June J January 13, 2020 at 13:05

    Site evidence that the majority of law enforcement, active and retired, care about anything about going home safely at the end of their shift and continuing to collect their salary/pension and benefits. LEO’s defying their paymasters over the Constitutionally protected (for now) rights of citizens to keep and bear arms (any arm) will result in loss of salary/pension and benefits.

  6. enn ess January 13, 2020 at 14:14

    Citing the 30-40% of Americans are gun owners, or the minority goes the the heart of the issue. We DO NOT live in a democracy. We live in a Constitutional Republic. In a pure democracy rules are made and enforced by the majority which is why all democracy’s fail. A Constitutional Republic is rule by LAW, which is defined as in a written Constitution. Rule of law applies to ALL factions and must by necessity ignore the needs wants of “special” groups. As in then article if active and retired LEO’s are exempt from the rules that apply to everyone else, it in effect becomes null and illegal under the Constitution. Democracy is two wolves and a sheep deciding what to have form dinner. At least that’s my understanding of it.

  7. DM January 13, 2020 at 21:35

    LEOs will be faced with a BIG DECISION just like our military and National Guard will. Those who refuse to enforce unconstitutional laws will be fired or “dishonorably” discharged and join us. Those who are willing to *attempt* to enforce unconstitutional laws, well….

  8. Quietus January 14, 2020 at 07:43

    I write this from a perspective of a former ten-year cop who quit the profession in order to pursue more honest work. Specifically, I went to a good horseshoeing school and worked under horses for a number of years and was better off in all aspects (except financially.)

    The old saw that most cops are too lazy to work and too honest to steal, has much truth to it. Cops are very strongly invested in their health insurance, their steady income, their pensions, and their perceived status in society. Most don’t realize that their primary reason for the Job, is to further the interests of the level of government which employs them.

    Asking cops to turn their backs on their current worldview, is an uphill thing. I wouldn’t expect much from it. I do think that history shows that servants of the state will continue to serve the state, up until the time their rice bowls no longer overflow. And by then it’s a bit too late.

    I think that my time is spent better doing pushups (figuratively and literally), than trying to lead horses to water. But I won’t disparage others’ efforts to make a horse drink.

  9. Steve Shapiro January 14, 2020 at 08:04

    Alternative Gun Owners’ letter to Law Enforcement.

    We hang traitors.
    Have a nice day.

    And now a brief moment of shameless plagiarism of one Mr. Cavguy:
    (mr fbi, dhs and fusion center hero these comments are for entertainment only and do not reflect any reality).

  10. […] Police chiefs and sheriffs should! Should! In the meantime, how did we get this far? […]

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