Should all police carry guns?

[gruntygiggles]

Originally Posted by Ch00

Just because CS Spray is covered under Section 5 of the firearms act does not make it a gun, it just makes it a prohibited weapon.

No-one has said CS spray is a gun....just that it is technically a firearm under Section 5 of the firearms act.

I also don't believe that anyone should apportion any blame on "the police". Feel free to blast individual police officers that are not worthy of the power they have, but the police as a whole are limited by what they are and aren't allowed to do as set out by the government. Most officers would love for things to be different.....but lets just thank god that there are still people willing to take all the crap from both sides of the coin in order to try and keep us safe.

I've had my issues with the police......and been a victim of the most ridiculous investigation...but that was down to the idiocy of one officer....not the police in general.

The buck doesn't stop with them, they are just an easy target.

Originally Posted by Ch00

Just because CS Spray is covered under Section 5 of the firearms act does not make it a gun, it just makes it a prohibited weapon.

At no point did I say that it was a gun. I was merely pointing out that it is a Section 5 Firearm in response to the "Police officers shouldn't have firearms".

I have stated that I don't think we should have guns.

Knife vs Baton? Suppose CS spray is a better weapon in that case, but I wouldn't say the baton us useless against the knife. It all depends who is holding the knife and who is holding the baton. Its a moot point anyway, the purpose of the post was to illustrate that the prooblem in this county is more knife related than gun related, and you don't need a gun to combat a knife.

Originally Posted by -Ralph-

Knife vs Baton? Suppose CS spray is a better weapon in that case, but I wouldn't say the baton us useless against the knife. It all depends who is holding the knife and who is holding the baton. Its a moot point anyway, the purpose of the post was to illustrate that the prooblem in this county is more knife related than gun related, and you don't need a gun to combat a knife.

I didn't say it was useless but it is a last resort.

My incident, for example, was in the summer. Under my body armour, which only covers my torso, not arms, I had a tshirt. My arms were bare. If CS does not work, which it didn't for a long time in this case, then the last option left for us was baton. In order to baton him, we would have had to have been close enough for him to have stabbed or slashed us, at least, on the arm.

I do agree with your point that knife crime is much more prevalent than gun and in most cases, gun vs knife is a disproporionate use of force.

[Sid Squid]

Originally Posted by Milky Bar Kid

Read the whole post you quoted.

I have done thank you.

Originally Posted by Milky Bar Kid

I was only reminding people who were shouting about cops not getting firearms that we currently do have firearms as part of our kit.

Still not sure what you're getting at, are you saying that arming the Police has already happened? CS is harmful and illegal and you shouldn't have it either - but it's somewhat of a step from that to to guns, no?

Originally Posted by Sid Squid

I have done thank you.

Still not sure what you're getting at, are you saying that arming the Police has already happened? CS is harmful and illegal and you shouldn't have it either - but it's somewhat of a step from that to to guns, no?

TBH I have no idea what you are on about. I have said numerous times in this thread that I do not agree with us being issued with guns....

I don't think the police should have guns. If they are to be universally armed I should have the right to bear arms too. Do you trust ME with a gun?

If the citizens can't defend themselves against the state they risk being the victims of tyranny. I don't believe that the police are any better than the rest of us, so I worry that they can be used as a tool of oppression.

If I was a policeman, I wouldn't want that power. So NO.

Originally Posted by carternd

I don't think the police should have guns. If they are to be universally armed I should have the right to bear arms too. Do you trust ME with a gun?

If the citizens can't defend themselves against the state they risk being the victims of tyranny. I don't believe that the police are any better than the rest of us, so I worry that they can be used as a tool of oppression.

If I was a policeman, I wouldn't want that power. So NO.

+1.

From a cop...+1

[BanannaMan]

Originally Posted by yorkie_chris

Armor piercing? Seems a bit dodgy.

Body armor aka bulletproof aka balistic type clothing.
Not tanks or the like.

Originally Posted by yorkie_chris

Being shot isn't even an option though, even the yanks don't shoot people in the back of the head for being a bit rowdy after a few too many wifebeaters.

There has to be legal justification to use deadly force.
Police involved in any shooting are imediately put "on leave" until the the state conducts a full investigation.
And yes... they have to spend X amount of hours at the shooting range as well as pass marksmanship tests several times a year to carry a gun.
And they have combat type training yearly as well.
But truthfully, Police here rarely have to use their weapons. Indeed many never do during their career.
It's more to protect them while trying to uphold the law than it is to use on criminals.

Originally Posted by Milky Bar Kid

To be close enough to baton someone with a knife, is to be close enough to be slashed/stabbed etc by said knife.

This however would be legal justification in the US to use deadly force.
Come at an officer with a knife and you'll likely be shot dead long before getting close enough to stab anyone.


Problem is..
Nearly everyone owns a gun in the US... so not having guns isn't an option for Police here.

Dangerous Dave would know what to do