Police are not crime preventers anymore. They are crime detectives. If you get mugged on the street theres not gonna be a cop on the end of your road to stop anyone like in the old days. They just wait and see if they can afford to take care of it. Cops with guns is a bad idea, if they dont abuse it then some criminal will kill a cop and then abuse it so guns should not be given to Police.
Originally posted by Aku
Nah I say that guns are generally bad news. Anyone who has seen bowling for columbine obviosly would agree. And to answer your question we dont have gun shops in the UK and if we do, its not as accessible as they are in the US.No one wants to kill the cops no more then they wanna kill anyone else.
(Then again I wouldnt put it past SlipKnot)
Of course anyone who possesed the very same mind set of micheal moore that is.
There is absolutely no indication that a generic arming of police in the UK would do anything to help them fight crime, and plenty that it reduces their ability fo form proper community liasion.
So long as there is no direct need for a wholesale arming of police in this couintry, it would be insane to do so.
Our police are gun armed only when it is necessary, and furthermore, by so restricting our gun use, the squads trained to do so are far more highly trained than the average gun-wielding cop in other countries, and the mis-use of such firearms is therefore massively reduced.
That our policemen don't need to be armed is still a point of pride in the UK. I think it is very difficult to quite get across just how much more rare gun crime is in Europe than in the States. There is nothing we actually need to match with such an policy.
As a point of reference, it is handguns that are illegal in the UK (beyond those things that are obviously illegal everywhere, like fully automatic assault rifles etc.). There is a shotgun in the cupboard downstairs where I live, though the amount of precautions my Dad has to go through to keep it are immense (it is for target shooting, btw).
Britain may not need armed cops but America certainly does. Especially in high crime areas like New York, Las Vegas, and Los Angeles. Criminals use guns. Tazers or stun guns are not going work against them. Say we have a hostage situation and a madman is holding someone at gun point. What do the police do? Tazers aren't going to do anything. Sniper rifles are going to fix the problem. America has terrorists walking around our nations. We need guns.
And please stop disrespecting the police everyone. Over 300 cops willingly gave their lives to save helpless people in the Twin Towers. They are heroes. You may hate cops, but you sure as hell are happy to see them when you need them.
Originally posted by Afro Cheese
Police do prevent crime.. just because they aren't there everytime someone gets mugged doesn't mean they don't prevent crime. If theres a shootout at a house with hostages involved.. how do the police take action without guns? That's just stupid. Running toawrds armed thugs with a tazer gun.
Ok then say you've been mugged, phone the police, they have a look around, nothing is solved in the end. Hence no crime is prevented.
Second scenario, you get mugged, criminal runs and theres a cop at the end of the street. Cop stops the guy, gives you back your wallet or whatever, gives the criminal a warning. Crime prevented.