Source: Washington Times Contact: Thu, 31 Jul 1997 WASHINGTON, July 30 /PRNewswire/ John Snyder, Vice President for Public Affairs of the National Association of Chiefs of Police (NACOP) met here recently with FBI Director Louis Freeh. Named "a champion of the right to selfdefense" by The Washington Times, Snyder also is National Vice President for Public Relations of the American Federation of Police (AFP). Snyder reported here today that NACOP earlier this month sent copies of its latest opinion survey of Chiefs of Police and Sheriffs in the United States to Director Freeh, to the President and to all members of Congress. According to this 10th Annual Survey of American law enforcement command officers, opinions on a variety of subjects are as follows: Over 90 percent believe the death penalty serves as a deterrent to certain types of crimes; Over 90 percent believe that in cases in which a law enforcement officer is killed in the line of duty by a person or persons in the commission of a felony, the law should mandate the death penalty; Over 77 percent believe that certain drugs now illegal, such as marijuana, should not be legalized for "medical" use; Over 88 percent believe that marijuana use leads to the use of more dangerous drugs, such as heroin and cocaine; Eightynine percent believe that large scale contributions made to political parties and those contributions that admit donors access to the White House are ethically or morally wrong; Over 73 percent believe that recent revelations regarding the alleged evidence and forensic report contamination at the FBI crime lab has tarnished the reputation of the FBI; Eightytwo percent said their police department was not invited to attend or to give input to a conference sponsored by the U.S. Department of Justice about ethics in law enforcement which concluded that there was a need for the federal government to lead programs of ethical standards; Over 94 percent believe that, considering the ethics scandals at the FBI, DEA, U.S. Customs, CIA, IRS and other federal agencies, if ethics are to be discussed the federal government should first clean up its own agencies' ethical standards; Eightyfour percent believe that the nonrenewal of nearly 52 percent of persons who held a Federal Firearms Dealers License, due in part to higher fees, zoning requirements and fingerprinting of applicants, and visits from agents of BATF and local police, has not reduced illegal gun use in their communities; Seventytwo percent do not believe that lawabiding citizens in their states should be limited by state law to purchasing no more than one firearm a month; Over 63 percent do not support proposals that all firearms sold must be sold with a gun lock; Over 95 percent indicate their police agencies do not require their officers who carry or own firearms to purchase a gun lock; Eightynine percent indicate that, to their knowledge, the fiveday handgun purchase waiting period mandated by the Brady Law has not prevented any criminal from obtaining a firearm from illegal sources in their area; Over 96 percent believe that any lawabiding citizen who wishes to obtain a firearm of the types lawfully sold for home protection or recreation should be able to do so under current state law; Over 93 percent believe that, since in past years riots, earthquakes, hurricanes, floods and other national disasters have required citizens to protect themselves and their property until order could be restored, any law abiding citizen should continue under state laws to be able to purchase any legal weapon for selfdefense; Over eightynine percent believe that the Second Amendment recognizes the right of any lawabiding citizen to purchase a firearm for sport or self defense under state and federal law; Over 90 percent would like to see a law enacted that allows any certified police officer to carry a concealed weapon in all states on or off duty; Over 80 percent say their police department provides bullet resistant armor to all their officers; Over 90 percent indicate police officers in their departments will be affected by the enforcement of a recently enacted federal law which prohibits the ownership or use of firearms of any kind by persons who have been convicted of "misdemeanor domestic abuse"; Over 87 percent believe that movie and television violence has had a negative effect on school children; and Nearly 89 percent do not believe that the print and broadcast media are fair and impartial in reporting news. The postal survey was sent to 16,000 Chiefs of Police and Sheriffs in the United States and received a 6.3 percent response. Snyder also is Public Affairs Director of the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms and President of the St. Gabriel Possenti Society, Inc.