Do you think its right for British police constables to be armed?

Answer 1

the problem with arming every police officer is that criminals would be more willing to be armed. even in light of the recent tragedy, most police officers don't think they should be armed, however if you were to speak to the relatives of the recently murdered police officer they might disagree. the question is - would the public (and police officer's) feel safer if they were armed? and would arming the police reduce the number of crimes that result in the death of someone? i feel that the answer to both of these is no - so cannot justify arming the police.
the police force of the united kingdom do a brilliant and thankless job with very limited resources and arming them would, in my opinion make it harder for them. they are in a catch 22 situation and no matter what they do they will always be criticised. i refer to the shooting of the brazilian man on the subway - if they hadn't of shot him and he went on to carry out another atrocity, how many people would have criticised them for that?
in order to change the culture of violence and disrespect we have to change as a society, people need to take responsibility for there actions and choose to do the right thing. until that happens you can give everyone a gun and all it will result in is more people dying (criminals AND law abiding citizens)

Answer 2

I personally think something needs to be done. In the city where I work there's been at least 4 shootings, 5 stabbings and 2 murders within the last 3 months and I don't live in a city as big as somewhere like London or Manchester. This is something I always bear in mind every time I go into a potentially dangerous situation.

If the UK Police were armed then I'd make sure that I could use my firearm correctly rather than just shooting blindly like I've seen on some reality TV programmes. I would much prefer to take one shot and hit an area that didn't cause death than several shots that potentially endangered others nearby.

Personally I prefer the Taser option as I would find it difficult to have to use lethal force.

This debate will go on and on...

Answer 3

Bad idea and a typical knee jerk reaction from some sections of the British press. Arming the Police constable who was recently knifed would not have helped and an attacker could also grab and use the gun.

Answer 4

No i dont trust them. They have armed response who are trained for this and they still shoot innocent people so your average constable running round with a gun is a scary thought.Why dont they concentrate there efforts on cleaning the streets of guns and drugs?From what i can see there seems no real effort to get the bottom of the rising gun culture.They blame the parents but its the goverment schools that are full of drugs.The drugs and proceeds of drugs are at the root cause of many of these problems.They need to get to the roots of the problem guns are not going to solve the problem.More police with guns more shootings more guns on the streets.We need better policeing not more police with guns

Answer 5

In other countries police have always been armed but if the UK suddenly anounced we have armed the police it's kind of like a "bring it on Statement" to the criminals.
The answer has got to be to build more jails and "hard labour" institutions where anyone gets 5 - 10 for carrying a gun or any weapon and knows it's not gonna be watching TV and playing pool everyday, it's gonna be hard graft so when they get out they tell their mates "don't bother it's not worth it"

Answer 6

It maybe best if no Brits are ever armed. Having the freedom to own firearms means being responsible and wise, and I'm not sure if most Brits can handle that. I myself have been a gun owner for 24 years and I have been professionally trained in their use. Not to mention that I grew up around firearms since I do live in Montana. So I do know that you should maintain respect and discipline when it comes to firearms. My two sons really like to target shoot and I always preach safety and respect and that just drives them nuts after awhile.
I am strong believer in the Second Amendment and what it stands for.

Answer 7

Although I do not live in the UK I do live in Canada, a commonwealth of the UK.

For most of the history the British police have not carried arms. Today, because we now have a whole new crime element to deal with, whom are often better armed than most police forces, it is a necessity.

The RCMP as well as the provincial police are armed in Canada.

Answer 8

of course, the baddies have vast superior resources to the ones legally available to the protectors of innocents. Can a mother and her child be protected properly from a man wielding a baseball bat/golf club lets say? hell no. and if the copper tries to take him on with anything but threat of scarier violence, he's not going to amount for much.
I think they should at least be allowed tasers.
As I don't live in the UK I don't know what sparked this, but I'd like to if someone could email me.

Answer 9

No as previously indicated the Majority of British Police Officers would not wish to carry firearms, in fact following a review a few years ago many officers indicated they would resign rather than carry firearms. In this country those officers who carry firearms are highly trained individual and the carrying of firearms is voluntary basis as no officer is forced into carrying firarms.
It is a very sorry fact that in America where all officers are armed more officers per population are killed by shooting incidents.
I feel that if all officers were armed then more Criminal Minded people would carry firearms

Answer 10

Yeah! All the chavs, dealers, antisocial bastards seem to be armed these days. Think it's only fair to give the guys on the frontline a fighting chance. Might also make the fuckwits who think it's cool to carry a gun or a blade think twice about it if the police had them too and were allowed to use them without being instantly removed from duty etc.