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Individual Right to Arms for Self-Defense Enjoys Solid Support of Public and Police, notes Gun Law Expert
Arlington, VA
Sunday, January 20, 2008
"As the U.S. Supreme Court prepares to consider arguments in the District of Columbia v. Heller case on whether or not the Second Amendment refers to an individual right to keep and bear arms, it's important to realize that both general and law enforcement opinion appear to support an individualist interpretation," gun rights expert John M. Snyder stated here today.
Snyder cited an ongoing USA Today internet survey indicating that, out of nearly 600,000 participants to date, 97 percent support the individualist approach.
He recalled a Rasmussen Reports national survey of 800 likely voters just a few weeks ago revealing that at least 50 percent state someone in the household actually owns a gun.
Snyder said that, "for the last two decades, annual national opinion surveys of Chiefs of Police and Sheriffs in the United States conducted by the National Association of Chiefs of Police (NACOP) show that America's command officers support the right of law-abiding citizens to keep and bear arms for self-defense and sporting purposes by over 90 percent.
"In addition, the President of the American Federation of Police and Concerned Citizens (AFP&CC), Deputy Dennis Wise, is one of the law enforcement community's chief proponents of the individual Second Amendment civil right of law-abiding American citizens to right to keep and bear arms in the United States"
Snyder pointed out that Wise, in his autobiography, Honor Above All Else, published two years ago by Author House in Bloomington, Indiana, wrote that, "It is the right of all law-abiding citizens, if they choose to, to own a firearm for protection, hunting, sport shooting, or target shooting. I know that after being in law enforcement for 35 years that there will come a time when you will need instant protection and the police will not be there. In times of riots or natural disasters your law enforcement agencies may not be able to respond to your needs as quickly as they would have if it was not for this emergency. Think about it…your family's life and yours may hang in the balance"
Snyder noted that, "Deputy Wise has spent his law enforcement career in the Sunshine State, first in Broward County and, in recent years, in Walton County, in the Florida Panhandle. In fact, he hopes to win the Republican nomination for Walton County Sheriff in an August primary on a campaign to clean up and streamline the office (Dennis Wise for Sheriff, P.O. Box 1134, Freeport FL 32439-1134; badgelight1@juno.com). 'An armed man is a citizen,' Wise maintains. 'An unarmed man is a subject.'"
A former National Rifle Association magazine editor, Snyder is Public Affairs Director of the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms, PR Director of NACOP, Treasurer of the Second Amendment Foundation, and PR Director of AFP&CC.
Snyder cited an ongoing USA Today internet survey indicating that, out of nearly 600,000 participants to date, 97 percent support the individualist approach.
He recalled a Rasmussen Reports national survey of 800 likely voters just a few weeks ago revealing that at least 50 percent state someone in the household actually owns a gun.
Snyder said that, "for the last two decades, annual national opinion surveys of Chiefs of Police and Sheriffs in the United States conducted by the National Association of Chiefs of Police (NACOP) show that America's command officers support the right of law-abiding citizens to keep and bear arms for self-defense and sporting purposes by over 90 percent.
"In addition, the President of the American Federation of Police and Concerned Citizens (AFP&CC), Deputy Dennis Wise, is one of the law enforcement community's chief proponents of the individual Second Amendment civil right of law-abiding American citizens to right to keep and bear arms in the United States"
Snyder pointed out that Wise, in his autobiography, Honor Above All Else, published two years ago by Author House in Bloomington, Indiana, wrote that, "It is the right of all law-abiding citizens, if they choose to, to own a firearm for protection, hunting, sport shooting, or target shooting. I know that after being in law enforcement for 35 years that there will come a time when you will need instant protection and the police will not be there. In times of riots or natural disasters your law enforcement agencies may not be able to respond to your needs as quickly as they would have if it was not for this emergency. Think about it…your family's life and yours may hang in the balance"
Snyder noted that, "Deputy Wise has spent his law enforcement career in the Sunshine State, first in Broward County and, in recent years, in Walton County, in the Florida Panhandle. In fact, he hopes to win the Republican nomination for Walton County Sheriff in an August primary on a campaign to clean up and streamline the office (Dennis Wise for Sheriff, P.O. Box 1134, Freeport FL 32439-1134; badgelight1@juno.com). 'An armed man is a citizen,' Wise maintains. 'An unarmed man is a subject.'"
A former National Rifle Association magazine editor, Snyder is Public Affairs Director of the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms, PR Director of NACOP, Treasurer of the Second Amendment Foundation, and PR Director of AFP&CC.
John M. Snyder
Manager
Telum Associates, LLC
Arlington, VA
202-326-5259
