Governing surveyed senior-level state and local officials on gun policy. Among the interesting results is that government officials may carry guns more frequently than the general population. The Governing Index survey finds 47% of these officials saying they own guns. Johns Hopkins research finds guns reported in 33% of households among the general population.
A higher rate of gun ownership among government officials could signal that the Tea Party has obtained its not-quite Jeffersonian goal of a government that fears the people. It seems more likely, however, that the difference results from the male skew of a pool of government officials. We fellas do like our bang-bangs.
Gun owners and non-gun owners consistently differ in support for various gun policies. But 73% of gun-owning officials and 95% of non-owners support background checks on every gun sale (that's 85% total, close to the 89% of the general public that support that policy). Majorities of state and local government officials support banning assault weapons and high-capacity magazines and conducting regular gun buyback events.
While a majority of the surveyed officials support increasing funding for school resource officers, they get queasy about putting guns in the hands of school staff. Asked if they would like to "Require that every public school train and arm at least one staff member with a gun," 85% of the non-gun owners and 59% of the gun owners said no. That's 73% of officials expressing reservation about something like South Dakota's school gunslinger law.
Even public officials who choose to own firearms appear to recognize that the Second Amendment is not absolute, especially not in schools.