Police Administrator Attitudes Toward the Concealed Handgun Law

• NCJ Number: 163550
• Author(s): R A Thompson
• Date Published: 1996
• Length: 11 pages
• Corporate Author: Sam Houston State University
• Sale Source: Sam Houston State University
• Publication Type: Survey
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: Telemasp Bulletin Texas Law Enforcement Management and Administrative Statistics Program, V 3, N 3, June 1996.

Annotation

This bulletin summarizes the beliefs, perceptions, attitudes, and predictions of Texas law enforcement administrators regarding a variety of issues posed for the profession by Texas' 1995 concealed handgun law.

Abstract

In 1995 the Texas Governor signed into law a bill which allows private citizens to carry concealed handguns on their persons. Historically, this privilege has been extended only to eligible peace officers who are both licensed by the State and commissioned by a law enforcement agency. In order to determine attitudes toward the possible impact of this law among law enforcement administrators, data were solicited from 26 Texas law enforcement agencies that represented various organizational sizes and missions. Where possible, the police chief or sheriff was requested to complete the survey instrument. The survey instrument used was a variation of the Law Enforcement and Concealed Weapons Survey developed by the author for use in a previous study. The survey consisted of 20 questions that were divided into seven areas of inquiry: perceived deterrent effects of concealed weapon ownership for various types of crime, perceived adequacy of State-mandated licensing requirements, perceived implications for officer safety, expected changes in overall arrest rates for unlawful carrying of a weapon, reported personal involvement in political initiatives associated with the law, reporting effects of the law on both policy and training initiative within each agency, and recommendations for future modifications to the law. This survey was administered in March of 1996, 3 months after the law went into effect. Administrators were asked how strongly they believed that law enforcement officers should be the only individuals in the State allowed to legally carry concealed handguns on their persons. One-half of the administrators (n=13) agreed with this proposition on a continuum of somewhat strongly to very strongly. The remaining one-half reported that it did not matter one way or the other. 9 tables and 2 references