A Pew Research Center survey released January 11 shows that police officers support protecting citizens’ gun rights over passing more gun control by a margin of 3 to 1.

The survey also shows that two out of three officers oppose an “assault weapons” ban.

According to Pew, 74 percent of officers believe it most important to “protect the right of Americans to own guns,” while 25 percent want greater efforts to “control gun ownership.” Among the public at large, 53 percent believe it most important to “protect the right of American to own guns,” and 46 percent want greater efforts to “control gun ownership.” This means the law enforcement officers, who put their lives on the line daily, have an even greater appreciation for citizens’ Second Amendment rights than do the citizens themselves.

Pew also points out that 67 percent of officers oppose a ban on “assault weapons.” This is crucial information, considering the Obama administration appealed to police safety when pushing bans on “assault weapons” and certain types of ammunition for those weapons.

Breitbart News reported that members of law enforcement, such as Kern County California Sheriff Donny Youngblood, came out against Obama’s ammo ban, saying it seemed like an attempt “to create a problem that doesn’t actually exist.” And now, according to Pew, only 32 percent of police officers support an “assault weapons” ban.

The Pew survey was drawn from “the attitudes and experiences of nearly 8,000 policemen and women from departments with at least 100 officers.”

AWR Hawkins is the Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and host of Bullets with AWR Hawkins, a Breitbart News podcast. He is also the political analyst for Armed American Radio. Follow him on Twitter: @AWRHawkins. Reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart.com.