There needs to be a balance struck. I do not think that it would make this country any safer if every police officer on the beat was armed. In fact I think it would actually make the place more dangerous, the criminal types would then look to get tooled up in order to counter the fact that the police are armed.

What does need to be done is much stricter laws regarding just who can and can't have a gun. And, anyone found breaching those rules should have horrendusly stiff sentences passed on them.

Gun violence in Britain has more than doubled since Dunblane. Not arming the cops is like saying to criminals, you know, bring over whatever the hell kind of armament you want from eastern Europe. 'Cuz we're not gonna fight it.

In the US, the "concealed carry" laws that have been passed are essentially in response to a similar situation. If criminals are going to carry guns, why prevent a law-abiding citizen from doing so? In each state that's passed such a law, the crime rate has dropped anywhere from 3-9%. The places that don't have such laws have awful crime rates. (Washington D.C., NYC, LA, and Chicago - these 4 cities have some of the most strict gun laws, and some of the nation's highest crime rates.) I'm not saying concealed carry is a cure-all, but everywhere it's been introduced, it has helped.

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FLUSHED THE JOHNS!

UK officers need to get guns... preferrably before I go there to study fall semester next year?

On the case of security guards... I'm somewhat indecisive upon whether or not they should have one. I feel like they should for the protection of the people, and yet then again, I am forced to look at it from another point of view. If a robber knows that the guard has a gun, isn't he just going to make sure his first point of business is to take it? Then is there really a difference if they have one or not?

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aka Tits McGee
aka Chesty LaRue
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Terrorists know the bobbies ain't got guns. Things may change when they get hit hard one day. Oh, and I like that other comment. Please come help me from being robbed by this armed intruder and bring your night stick! lol!

{{{smoke}}}

Arm all our police with guns? No thank you!!!

For a start, we DO have armed police (which nobody seems to have noticed!)

Another point - we are not America! We do not have a gun culture like they do over there. You see a few high profile cases where guns have been used, but this is nothing compared to America where it is "their constitutional right" to own guns! Americans think it is ok to own guns, we dont!

In the cases where people have been shot in the UK, what good would armed police have been? The police weren't there at the time obviously!!! And when somebody is reported to have a gun (or a sword etc), the police that turn up on the scene are armed with GUNS!

A few people mention terrorists - well we have one of the most efficiant armies in the world - when it comes to dealing with Irish or Islamic terrorists, we'll let Mi6, Mi5 and the SAS deal with them!

Arming the entire police force is not needed, and would cause more problems than it would solve...

So these British policemen carry water pistols?

Wa hey!! Somebody did notice!

You can take any picture of an english officer with a gun and take it out of context. Were they on patrol with those weapons? i highly doubt it. More like putting them on display.

America and England are at two extremes. God forbid England becomes a Texas. But countries like Canada are at a better position to deal with any potential gun violence because of stricter gun laws AND armed police on patrol. Why would police officers having guns make more problems? If you cant trust the police then there are more important issues to be addressed than arming them.

Just reading on the recent Leeds shooting and how the officers on patrol simply ran away from the scene of the crime (2 of them) and one was killed helps me confirm my point.

Every nation has its own policies, if they want to outfit there police with guns then so be it, if not then so be it as well. I frankly don't see the big deal either way. Police officers are trained extensively to handle their weapons, so what is the issue. We can talk of Americas gun culture all that we want but individuals should be very careful to remember that with all of the illegal weapons on the streets of America it necessitates the police to have weapons. Once again people resort to comparing England(Europe) to America which is perhaps the most foolish concept that I can never understand. The sad reality is that there is a culture of gun violence in America that Europe doesn't have to that extent. I have one initial for all you guys (NRA), there lies the main problem. Any attempts at gun reform is stymied by their lobbyists in Congress.

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Trance = Heart, Mind, Body and Soul all in 1

Current fav. Global Experience = Madras

quote:

You can take any picture of an english officer with a gun and take it out of context. Were they on patrol with those weapons? i highly doubt it. More like putting them on display.

We have armed police in the UK, but it is a special unit - not all police have guns. If the police are called to a situation where the 'criminal' has a weapon (ie. a gun/sword/etc) then it is the armed police units that will turn up

Arming the police will not help protect the citizens of the UK. I'm not sure, but I should imagine the vast majority of cases where a British person has been shot, the police where nowhere near at the time of the shooting...so how could they have helped prevent it, armed or unarmed?

And it is very rare that an actual policeman is shot (and the person who did that in Leeds was American!!!)

quote:

Originally posted by smokeape Terrorists know the bobbies ain't got guns. Things may change when they get hit hard one day. Oh, and I like that other comment. Please come help me from being robbed by this armed intruder and bring your night stick! lol! {{{smoke}}}

lol, yeh those armed officers will be much more use than their unarmed collegues when a plance is flying into Westminster, or when a terrorist looking like your everyday bloke strolls into Leicester Square and blows himself up without warning.