A group of law enforcement officers announced the formation of a new organization on Tuesday aimed at advocating for stricter gun control laws ostensibly to protect public safety.

The organization, called Police Leaders for Community Safety, will prop up anti-gunner candidates running for Congress in the hopes of getting more gun control laws passed at the federal level.

The new group, Police Leaders for Community Safety, plans to push for stronger gun laws, such as closing loopholes, requiring background checks for gun buyers, and cracking down on “ghost guns.” It also wants to provide support for the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

“Our organization was formed by prominent police leaders from around the nation that are completely fed up to act on vital measures that we know will save lives and make us all safer,” said Susan Riseling, the chair of the group’s board of directors who served as police chief and associate vice chancellor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

The group said it is nonpartisan, but it also plans to endorse candidates and focusing on stricter gun laws is a position more commonly taken by Democrats. It’s also one Biden addressed separately on Tuesday.

The group indicates that it “promotes policies that protect the public welfare and preserve individual security and dignity” by “advocating for proper resources for law enforcement, and supporting measures that address the scourge of gun violence,” according to its website.

“We also support policies that better address mental health needs, and advocate for alternatives to only having police respond to mental health calls,” the organization added.

The group also argues that the government should protect “our public processes” to ensure that “all voters can freely submit their choices for elected leaders through their votes, without interference or intimidation” and that “Electoral outcomes are accompanied by a peaceful and orderly transition of power,” which appears to be a jab toward former President Donald Trump’s challenging of the 2020 presidential election results.

Retired Dane County, Wisconsin Sheriff David Mahoney, one of the organization’s board members, penned an op-ed in January in which he claims “the world watched in horror as an insurrectionist mob – spurred to action by a defeated incumbent President – attacked the U.S. Capitol and the members of law enforcement sworn to protect it.”

He characterizes the J6 riot as “a brazen assault on our democracy” that was “ultimately put down due to the courage and professionalism of members of law enforcement.”

Opinions on gun rights among members of law enforcement are likely mixed. I’ve heard about plenty of officers who believe in protecting civilians’ right to keep and bear arms. The reason they give is simple: They know they won’t always be there to protect us when we are faced with a dangerous situation.

In fact, if the officers seeking to make it harder for us to exercise our Second Amendment rights cannot guarantee they will always be there to prevent loss of life and property, they have absolutely no business trying to strip us of our right to keep and bear arms.

Of course, there is no way for them to guarantee that police can always protect us – unless we live in a police state with officers in front of every home and in every public place. Even then, it is not an absolute certainty that they will be able to stop violent criminals from victimizing the public. There is no reason why we should not be allowed to defend ourselves when police are not around.

Instead of focusing on disarming law-abiding citizens, members of law enforcement would do better to focus on the actual bad guys rather than pushing an agenda that would leave people defenseless.