Should UK police carry guns?

Question

Given the alarming rise in anti-social behaviour and the willingness of youngsters to carry weapons of all kinds, is it now time to accept that there is little or no deterrant against yobbery? Is the next step to issue our police with guns?

There is the argument that if Police carry weapons then it will encourage criminals to arm themselves too - but given that a knife already has the same social status as an ipod, it appears that the Police are already less prepared than potential criminals.

It's worked in many other countries and crime has not escalated.

Could arming the police be a positive step in making the Uk a safer place?

Answer 1

Yes I think they should, how many police are hurt, threatened or killed each year because of thugs and yobs that cant follow the rules of life?
It's a load of rubbish what they say about police having guns will make the criminals also carry them, how many police officers carry knifes?
I've never heard of a criminal using pepper spray as a weapon.
I dont think the police have any real authority over criminals, I no I for one (if I was a criminal) would be more inclined to listen more to an officer who had a gun in his hands than I would to an officer with a can of pepper spray, They are here to protect US the general public...If they cant protect themselves how can we expect them to protect us? Maybe the goverment should give it a chance, Looking at the state of this country what more harm could it do?! Back in the day (i'm only 29 btw) when our parents were kids etc a clip round the ear from a copper done them the world of good, nowadays WE parents cant even clip our kids round the ear, no bounderies make the criminals carry weapons etc, not the police force. Giving police guns would have my backing 100%!!!


Sorry for getting on my soap box there, personal experience involved so touched a raw nerve. It's something I feel VERY strongly about, I cant stand people who dont have respect for the police!
No offense meant.

Answer 2

What nieve people there are here. Welcome to the 21st Century.
Why the hell should the Police have to go calls to protect the normal citizens of this country without being protected themselves.
PC Sharon Beshinivsky was simply going to panic alarm at a travel agents when she was shot and killed. Did she expect to be shot when responding to such a routine call? Alarms are tripped 100's of times a day accidentally. Why would an Armed Response Vehicle have been assigned to that call? It wouldn't, but if she had been armed, MAYBE she would be alive today.
The Police should not be armed in response to the rise in Anti Social Behaviour, that would solve nothing at all. And they should not be armed bacause of the rise in knife crime. But the Police should be armed because of the rise in firearms, gun crime, drugs, and the real threat of terrorism in the UK. Wake Up people. Yes, accidents will happen the same as in every industry, but why should the people who protect us every day for peanuts have to risk their lives for us without the proper protection against the huge rise in people carrying guns? They shouldn't. A baton and a spray which makes you cough is not good enough. The days of the British Bobby have gone.
Did you know that last week a Police Officer in Bow, East London was shot in the chest? Did you know that 2 months ago a Police van was sprayed with bullets in a drive by shooting when the 2 cops were changing a female motorists tyre when she got a puncture? The time has come for things to change. Arm the Police and make the sentances for firearms offences much harsher.

Answer 3

carrying weapons is not a deterrent. Most criminals know a Police officer carrying a weapon is bound by very strict protocol and that they are not allowed to use the weapon for any old incident. It is not only training in how to use a weapon but also the mind that requires training. It is no deterrent at all.
What is required is a complete shake up of the Courts, we have such antiquated laws and Courts. Everything is geared towards the criminal and they just laugh when they end up in Court. Start to get tough with the scumbags of the earth and they will then think twice about what they are doing.

Answer 4

No I don't think they should. Even though there is a rise in violent crimes, we still have a low percentage of violent crime against the police officers themselves. If they were to carry guns I think there would be a marked rise in the body count as people would fire first to try to aid escape. If they know they are unarmed it might make them think first before shooting. Plus it also maintains a good working relationship between the public and the police, and keeps the public trust. The trust of officers carrying weapons decreased recently following the shooting of the South American shooting just days after the London bombings on 7/7/05. Are they always going to get it right? Probably not, and we certainly hear about it when they don't.

Answer 5

Yes, they should have guns. But the citizens should be allowed to have guns too. Yeah Yeah Blah Blah. USA is not a good example. Their gun laws are to lax. Automatic weapons are for war not home defence. If you look at another gun toting western nation. Canada. The cops got guns, but so do the citizens, not only is the general crime rate lower than UK, so is gun related crime!! The criminal system in UK is a joke. I've been robbed twice in two years living in UK. Once with a cricket bat to the back of my head. When I came to, I saw the toe rag running down the street, so I chased him, he was going over a fence, so I rammed it and knocked him off. Captured him and got half my money back. Then made him take me to his mates house, where his DAD answered the door, then I got the rest of my money back. Guess who got arrested. ME!! My lawyer told me it's an easy conviction because I told the TRUTH. Even though I had a goose egg on the back of my head, niether one of the criminals was even Arrested!! 'To much work to find the weapon and witnesses and backround checks' said my lawyer How pathetically sad is that. "you cannot take the law into your own hands" the sanctamonious judge said. 'you shouldn't have locked him in you boot' but would you let someone who pi.ss.ed his pants sit on your upholstery. That's right he peed his pants. Big tough criminal! Maybe if the cops had guns they wouldn't be chicken sh.its. Or hows this, a 75 year old blind man was arrested, charged had to go to court, when a yob, kicked in his door and punched him in the face. The man with his elderly wife upstairs, fumbled for a knife and stabbed the intruder. The intruder died. The blind man thankfully was not convicted. But what a waste of the courts time and money. You know why you have crazy crime rates in UK, because you let the criminals have rights. You let rapists and murderers out on early release and what do they, rape and murder. Tony Blair his cronies and this socialist welfare state the UK is becoming is failing all hard working Britons.

Answer 6

Yes...but only if they may walk around with a loaded gun. (don't laugh, I know that in some countries the police has guns, but the may not have bullets in the guns, so the guns are pretty useless)

When police officers don't have a gun, and the criminal just runs away, what can they do? Ask the criminal politely to stop and give up? And what can they do when they become the target of aggresion? They can hit the criminal with that stick of them (that has a name, I'm sure of it, but I can't remember), but that might not work.

Criminals already have guns, so why would it encourage criminals to get guns when the police force has them? I think the police force needs the guns te even up the odds and to make sure they can defend themselves and take care of criminals that got away.

Answer 7

god no. how many people have been injured in armed raids so far? we have armed police for firearmed offenses. and believe it or not the police can be brutal and racist. ive seen them chase someone down run them over and then seen them watch 1 policeman continue to punch the boy who had only just been ran over. imagine the bullshit we would read in the papers. police shoot a 12 year old he had a "gun". turns out it was a wooden stick. there is more guns in the UK then you think. they are mostly used by drug runners for protection aginst crack rats and rivals. but having the police sticking gun in their face could start a war between the streets and the police. the police already have a hard time getting the joe public on their side. having guns in our faces would make us feel oppressed rather then safer. think of the cost of the training needed too. the NHS is already cripped because we cant afford to pay for it. nope bad idea. if you was working class or lower who seen the real side of the police when talking to people they consider scum you would understand. a better idea would be to stop selling knifes. simple.

Answer 8

NO, NO NO NO NO
I live in a part of the Midlands with some of the worst Knife crime rates in the country *Birmingham* and im adamantly against armed officers. The police are a civilian unit, they have things like CS Gas and Armed squads are on 24 hour standby. Our country has one of the lowest gun crime rates in the world, and knife crime is being blown out of proportion. Police should never carry weaponry, that is soley the juristiction of the Armed forces.
Where is the proof to it working in other countries? Lets look at America, its police are armed and shootign and gun crime are on the increase annually. Do you really want you average bobby to lose that civilian aspect and just become a Military Police officer? It has never worked in our country and it never will, im completely against it

Answer 9

No. The reason that they do not normally carry guns is that the establishment believed that as the police were from the lower levels of society, they were not fit to carry guns. (Rather as ex-slaves in the USA could not own guns). The situation in the UK has not changed.

Answer 10

Yes, they should, I have lived in Spain for 15 years, and all police carry guns, whenever I go back to England to visit, the police look strange without a gun, I always think to myself, what would they do a a dodgy situation, say Stop Police and try to throw they're truncheon at the robber aiming it at his head !!!!! Do they get more wages if they manage to hit the target ? At the end of the day they don't have to shoot everyone just now and again in the foot wouldn't hurt !!!!