Should police have guns?

    • Should police have guns?

      So the majority of users on this site are American, where cops carry guns.

      I'm English and our police do not have guns, they have batons and occasionally mace spray and tasers. We do have armed police squads if needed though (sorta like US SWAT teams).

      Today, 2 policewomen got shot and killed in Manchester so the question of whether our police should have guns has come up again, although most people think that they should not carry guns.

      Fortunately, gun ownership and therefore shootings are very low in the UK, so police issue guns are seen to be unneccessary by the government. Also we don't want a situation where cops shoot first and ask questions later like what happens a lot in the US (no offence to anyone who knows or is a cop in america).

      What are everybody's thoughts? Should regular police have guns or not?
    • Re: Should police have guns?

      Any person employed by the government should not carry guns. They exist to protect and serve the people, not the other way around.

      There are three elements to justice
      -Order
      -Equality
      -Freedom

      At any given time, there can only be two of each. That's a fact of life and there's nothing that can be done about it. (Except if there was a perfect balance in government)

      E.g., There was a lot of racial profiling and segregation during the 1950's in America. (Order, Freedom)
      E.g. There is a lot of freedom and equality today. Shootings at schools and public places, protests at funerals, minorities receive benefits, gay rights, etc. (Freedom, Equality)

      And I say all that to say this. A nation of excessive order and equality but little freedom is in the near future. So enjoy it while it lasts kids...
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      The post was edited 3 times, last by Ziggs ().

    • Re: Should police have guns?

      Evan330 wrote:

      I don't really know how crime is outside of America, but here in America, a gun is most definitely needed. Just in the are I live in, nearly 10 Police Officers have been shot dead since 2000, so I strongly believe that a gun is essential for Police Officers.


      10 Police Officers since 2000? That's not a lot. Why would carrying a gun make any difference? Because If the intent of an officer is to disable a potential threat to his or anyone's life, you can just use a taser instead. Now, I do agree with you to some extent. If most officers feel the need to shoot at you, you're probably the scum of the earth and deserve to die. You also forgot to mention how many civilian casualties as a result of government issued handguns. I can guarantee you the number of police officer casualties pale in comparison to civilian casualties.
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      The post was edited 1 time, last by Ziggs ().

    • Re: Should police have guns?

      Ziggs wrote:

      10 Police Officers since 2000? That's not a lot. Why would carrying a gun make any difference? Because If the intent of an officer is to disable a potential threat to his or anyone's life, you can just use a taser instead. Now, I do agree with you to some extent. If most officers feel the need to shoot at you, you're probably the scum of the earth and deserve to die. You also forgot to mention how many civilian casualties as a result of government issued handguns. I can guarantee you the number of police officer casualties pale in comparison to civilian casualties.


      For a town of 100,000, 10 is a lot, imo...secondly, in the area I live, there have been no civilian casualties due to police officers misusing their weapon. Third, a taser won't always work. One example, about 5-6 years ago, two local cops were dispatched to a motel with a rowdy tenant. When the cops knocked on his door, he fired his shot gun through the door, killing one and injuring the other. Luckily, the injured cop fired at back and killed him. Point is, the taser isn't effective in a gun fight.
    • Re: Should police have guns?

      Unless guns suddenly disappeared from the country and no one was carrying guns, then by all means police officers shouldn't need a gun.

      however, we live in a world where guns will never disappear. Even if the government bans them, if someone wanted one bad enough they'd be able to get it under the table. in this world, police carrying a gun is necessary. it just wouldn't make sense having a police officer trying to stop a gun fight with pepper spray and batons.

      What we do need to try to get is stricter regulations and none of them "stand your ground" law florida has that gives police officers a free ticket to shoot anyone they liked and get out easy bc they claim they felt threatened. If police officers were also held more responsible for every innocent that they shoot, then they might hold off shooting first.
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      The post was edited 1 time, last by Papa Bear ().

    • Re: Should police have guns?

      Police should not have guns! And that's coming from someone who wants to join the Police force. If the police were to carry guns then this would just make more guns on the streets, it was said on the news that in America more police officers are shot with their own guns than what are with other guns so to me, that justifies a reason to why they shouldn't carry guns?

      Should police have something to protect themselves though?
      Yes they should! In the UK very few police carry tazers, the normal police belt only holds: handcuffs; batton; pepper spray.
      How are they supposed to even stand a chance of defending themselves? The police that carry tazers do have to do extra training but surely putting more police through this training in the chance that it could save someone's life, surely it's worth it?
    • Re: Should police have guns?

      Papa Bear wrote:

      Unless guns suddenly disappeared from the country and no one was carrying guns, then by all means police officers shouldn't need a gun.

      however, we live in a world where guns will never disappear. Even if the government bans them, if someone wanted one bad enough they'd be able to get it under the table. in this world, police carrying a gun is necessary. it just wouldn't make sense having a police officer trying to stop a gun fight with pepper spray and batons.

      What we do need to try to get is stricter regulations and none of them "stand your ground" law florida has that gives police officers a free ticket to shoot anyone they liked and get out easy bc they claim they felt threatened. If police officers were also held more responsible for every innocent that they shoot, then they might hold off shooting first.


      exactly, we live in a common sense world.

      you want guns gone from cops? ok, let me go take hostage your family with my AK real quick.
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    • Re: Should police have guns?

      The presence of guns in general can encourage their use. There has been more than one study in the US on whether police or military service members should carry weapons, and while I'm an Army brat and not entirely against it, I would say that I am accurate in saying that, the less people see weapons, the less likely they are to use them. It's the idea that "someone else gives you the idea." Like, if I didn't see an add for soup, I wouldn't have thought to eat it for my evening meal. It works the same way for things like weapons. The power of suggestion is immense. That is not to say that, occasionally, people cannot have ideas of their own.
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    • Re: Should police have guns?

      Typical American response, but I think cops should have to go through the same shit as everyone else in order to get guns, and they should be limited to only what a civilian can have. I understand that there are some legal ways to own a gun in the UK. Make any cop who wants a gun through the proper legal channels like any other civilian, and limit them to what all other civies have. A badge shouldn't grant extra rights.

      ---------- Post added at 06:57 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:54 PM ----------

      Papa Bear wrote:

      Unless guns suddenly disappeared from the country and no one was carrying guns, then by all means police officers shouldn't need a gun.

      however, we live in a world where guns will never disappear. Even if the government bans them, if someone wanted one bad enough they'd be able to get it under the table. in this world, police carrying a gun is necessary. it just wouldn't make sense having a police officer trying to stop a gun fight with pepper spray and batons.

      What we do need to try to get is stricter regulations and none of them "stand your ground" law florida has that gives police officers a free ticket to shoot anyone they liked and get out easy bc they claim they felt threatened. If police officers were also held more responsible for every innocent that they shoot, then they might hold off shooting first.


      The cops shoot whoever they want anywhere in the states, it isn't only here in Florida. As a matter of fact, most of the stories of cops just murdering people comes from California and New York.

      Also, Castle Doctrine (Stand Your Ground) laws only state that you don't have to try to get away from someone before you use any sort of deadly force. That includes any deadly weapon, like a bat or a knife, and doesn't let police just murder people, or fat Hispanic dudes murder black kids.

      Although, I do agree that we need to hold them responsible for their crimes. Too many do whatever the hell they want and get away with it.

      The post was edited 1 time, last by Marc_Antony ().

    • Re: Should police have guns?

      You know I wish I could agree with the post but I can't. So many people at least in my country would take advantage of the fact that cops can no longer use guns. Cops in Alaska need guns not just for protection from criminals or people on the run but wildlife. Bears, moose. wolves have wandered into the city I live in on way more than once occasion. But I think in America if cops stopped using guns, well I don't think there would be much left. Tazer vs Gun the taser is going to lose.
    • Re: Should police have guns?

      one thing to remember in the instance of these two cops being killed is that regardless of whether or not they carried guns they would in all likeleyhood would have died anyway as it was a deliberate set up ambush attack, where he lured the cops into his house, shot them and used grenades. in this case guns wouldnt have helped and could have served to arm the man with more weapons.

      The UK as it is has enough gun law in place for the amount of guns that are out there, and in the past few years deaths by shooting have stayed pretty steady. And in most cases where shootings have occured the targets have been civilians and therefore the arming of the police wouldnt in all probability saved anybodys life.
    • Re: Should police have guns?

      It was a fault in the police force for the cause of those police woman's death. They sent those two to a guy who they knew was armed. They should've had back-up and approached the situation more cautiously.
      I think atm, they're okay with tasers and batons. They barely have to use them.
      Isn't it illegal for someone to possess a gun in the UK whereas it's legal in USA? That's probably why they have guns because a lot of americans have guns and many of us don't here in the UK.
      A police officer recently tasered an innocent blind old man because he thought his white stick was some sort of weapon. Imagine if that police officer had a gun. I personally think our police officers can be idiots and they've killed people just by pushing them over for no reason. I think our police force is quite irresponsible so I think giving them guns may not be a good idea. I believe police of a higher status with many years of experience could carry guns, not new police officers. New police officers are the ones who tend to make silly mistakes.

      ---------- Post added at 01:33 PM ---------- Previous post was at 01:25 PM ----------

      Also, a criminal could somehow get hold of the police officers gun and shoot him with it, so it may make a potentially stable situation out of control with the presence of one gun, even in the hands of a police officer.
      I do believe our police force is good at sorting situations out and the chances of someone having a gun here is so little so a baton, mace, shields, tasers and bullet proof vests are good enough. Tasers work a charm at getting someone down and arrested in most cases. If a situation is quite serious, they usually get police in with shields, helmets and a lot of protection anyway.

      And it's fucking annoying getting shot on GTA by police officers.
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    • Re: Should police have guns?

      Hann. wrote:

      It was a fault in the police force for the cause of those police woman's death. They sent those two to a guy who they knew was armed. They should've had back-up and approached the situation more cautiously.

      Isn't it illegal for someone to possess a gun in the UK whereas it's legal in USA?


      Gonna pick holes in both your statements there, the call to the house was a hoax call deliberately intended to lure in police officers, he made a call to the police reporting a burglary and it was just a routine house call for statements etc. The police had no idea what they were walking into.

      as for guns in the UK, I have two fully licensed guns, and whilst it is harder to get them in the uk people can still get hold of them.