FOP and IACP Show 'Only Ones' Arrogance Opposing Gun Reciprocity for All

“The National Fraternal Order of Police (FOP) and the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP)  which collectively represent a majority of rank-and-file officers and police executives, have serious reservations about the impact this legislation would have on officer safety, officer liability, qualified immunity, and state and local gun safety laws,” a joint “call to action” issued in November by the groups declared. They’re talking about H.R. 38, the Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act, which House leadership “recently announced … will be a priority.”

The goal of that bill is “To amend title 18, United States Code, to provide a means by which nonresidents of a State whose residents may carry concealed firearms may also do so in the State.” That includes citizens from the 29 (to date) so-called “Constitutional Carry” states, which allow for permitless carry.

The professional prohibitionists, of course, are horrified, and thus, as always, hyperbolic. “The Concealed Carry Mandate guts our gun laws and tramples on states’ rights, putting everyone at risk,” the anti-2A organization Everytown for Gun Safety hyperventilates. “This extremist mandate would force each state to allow individuals from other states to carry a hidden, loaded gun in public places—even in states that wouldn’t otherwise allow them to… This also means people with dangerous histories, like violent criminals, domestic abusers (beyond those prohibited under federal law), and convicted stalkers, would be able to carry a concealed gun in states that wouldn’t otherwise let them.”

That’s to be expected. Their whole shtick is gun-grabbing.  And sadly, it’s hardly an unexpected reaction from the FOP and IACP, with long histories of endorsing infringements. Headquartered in Virginia, the IACP represents over 31,000 members in over 165 countries and is open to not just leaders but to all LEOs, as well as “affiliated” non-LEOs. And the list of prohibitions they embrace, from body armor, to no reciprocity, to “assault weapon” bans, waiting periods, ending private sales, specialized ammunition bans, and keeping silencers under National Firearms Act control, are perfectly in sync with groups like Giffords, Everytown, and Brady.

The FOP, at the national level  (noting some regional chapters are less adamant about restrictions although none embrace “shall not be infringed”) also has a huge Second Amendment problem, making it fair to wonder why “pro-gun” Donald Trump nominated former head Chuck Canterbury, a guy who supported Sonia Sotomayor and Eric Holder.

True, there have been “worse” leaders of the group. “In eight years as leader of the nation's largest law enforcement organization, outgoing FOP President Dewey Stokes said Friday the group still has far to go in protecting the rights and lives of officers,” The Virginia-Pilot reported in 1995. “Under Stokes' direction, the Fraternal Order of Police aided passage of the Brady Law, the assault-weapons ban and several other key pieces of crime-prevention legislation.”

“Dewey was labeled as ‘the guy who wanted to take your guns away,’” a profile on FOP presidents recalled, relating how Stokes doubled down on  the ban and waiting periods, and added two other measures “high on his list of priorities”: a ban on so-called “armor piercing bullets” and “the F.O.P.’s position on the right of off-duty and retired officers to carry concealed weapons.”

Everywhere. In Everytown. And they got theirs through the Law Enforcement Officer’s Safety Act (LEOSA). But now, having their seat at the table, they intend to make sure that we who are taxed to pay them are forever pressed outside the banquet hall looking in.

That’s the all-too-familiar “Only Ones” elitism, a term coined when DEA Agent Lee Paige told a classroom full of school children he was “the only one professional enough” to carry a gun and then shot himself in the foot while holstering it. Keep in mind that credible evidence confirms that police have higher suicide rates than the general public, and per the Crime Prevention Research Center, "permit holders are convicted of misdemeanors and felonies at less than a sixth of the rate for police officers.”

Not only are FOP’s and IACP’s presumptions unfounded, but they’re also arrogant and reverse the relationship between citizen and “public servants” envisioned by the Founders of this nation.

As Continental Congress delegate Tench Coxe argued, “What should we think of a gentleman, who, upon hiring a waiting-man, should say to him—'my friend, please to take notice, before we come together, that I shall always claim the liberty of eating when and what I please, of fishing and hunting upon my own ground, of keeping as many horses and hounds as I can maintain, and of speaking and writing my sentiments upon all subjects.' A servant must be a fool, who would not suppose such a master to be a madman... Let these truths sink deep into our hearts: that the people are the masters of their rulers and that rulers are the servants of the people..."

Not that any of this really matters. Republicans didn’t pass reciprocity when they had a clear path to do so. In 2017, Rep. Thomas Massie told Armed American Radio host Mark Walters that then-Speaker Paul Ryan “told me he didn’t think the timing was right.” Now that some are making noises that it’s a priority (there are 189 co-sponsors for the H.R. 38, including one Democrat, and 47 co-sponsors of S.65, the Senate version), don’t be surprised to find it’s not really. Legislative analysis site Govtrack gives a prognosis of “37% chance of being enacted,” meaning there’s a 63% chance it won’t be, meaning it’s easy to offer midterm voting inducements on promises politicians know can’t be kept while they can claim credit for trying.

Meanwhile, FOP and IACP benefit from Republicans being the party of “law and order,” while advancing the “gun control” agenda for the party of “Defund the Police.” Understanding that their members will be the ones enforcing the citizen disarmament their membership groups demand, it’s a real head-scratcher seeing how many gun owners forget all that and proudly declare that they “Back the Blue.”

About the Author

David Codrea is the winner of multiple journalist awards for investigating/defending the RKBA and a long-time gun owner rights advocate who defiantly challenges the folly of citizen disarmament. In addition to being a regular featured contributor for Firearms News and AmmoLand Shooting Sports News, he blogs at “The War on Guns: Notes from the Resistance,” and posts on Twitter: @dcodrea and Facebook.

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