All police should be allowed to carry firearms.

[Prof Prolapse]

http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard/article-239...

Or not?

Let's hope a child never picked it up eh?

Shocking.

[Hackney]

[Quote]Police stunned as officer leaves Taser gun on roof and drives off[/Quote]

I see what they did there.

[Marlin45]

Wouldn't be the first time something section 5 has been 'mislaid' by the Police and then handed in by the general public

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/bla...
http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/local-natio...
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1093544/A-...

Edited by Marlin45 on Wednesday 8th December 13:59

[Prof Prolapse]

Hackney][Quote]Police stunned as officer leaves Taser gun on roof and drives off[/Quote said:

I see what they did there.

Yeah I liked that as well.

It was far better than the other papers headlines.

[Rich_W]

Marlin45 said:

Wouldn't be the first time something section 5 has been 'mislaid' by the Police and then handed in by the general public

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/bla...

That's the one I always think of in situations like this. A friend of mine lives close to that Starbucks. Never went in there mind.

[dave1409]

"The firearms officer has been suspended from operational duty and faces an internal inquiry."

Sounds unpleasant

[Somnophore]

Most police don't want firearms and would vote not to have them, it's been surveyed numerous times, I think tazers should be rolled out to trained officers, there will always be idiots, who will be reprimanded, no organisation is perfect as it's
made up of human beings but tazers can save lives of the public, offenders and officers.

[Risotto]

Somnophore said:

Most police don't want firearms and would vote not to have them, it's been surveyed numerous times, I think tazers should be rolled out to trained officers, there will always be idiots, who will be reprimanded, no organisation is perfect as it's
made up of human beings but tazers can save lives of the public, offenders and officers.

I agree - partly because we don't have the same cultural attachment to handguns as they do in some other countries; partly because they simply aren't to be trusted with anything capable of inflicting lethal injuries.

Edited by Risotto on Wednesday 8th December 21:44

[Somnophore]

Most police aren't, I know a few armed officers though, and they are all very competant at handling firarms and their jobs and I'd trust their judgement and ability. I've grown up handling firarms but have never become complacement or carless when dealing with them so have never had an accident or left them insecure etc, things like this come when people stop treating firearms with the respect they require, yes they are just a tool in that respect but they need to be treated with the upmost respect and care which isn't always taken by some armed officers, usually I find this is more in London etc where they have far more armed officers, smaller forces with fewer officers have to be more selective but also just seem to be more sensible maybe because they see less "action"

[swamp]

Hackney][Quote]Police stunned as officer leaves Taser gun on roof and drives off[/Quote said:

I see what they did there.

Must have been quite a shock.

I wonder if they will be any charges.

Someone should be fired.

[Prof Prolapse]

Risotto said:

Somnophore said:

Most police don't want firearms and would vote not to have them, it's been surveyed numerous times, I think tazers should be rolled out to trained officers, there will always be idiots, who will be reprimanded, no organisation is perfect as it's
made up of human beings but tazers can save lives of the public, offenders and officers.

I agree - partly because we don't have the same cultural attachment to handguns as they do in some other countries; partly because they simply aren't to be trusted with anything capable of inflicting lethal injuries.

Glad to hear the police are sensible enough to realise that handguns are awful things.

I'm afraid, based on my experiences, I wouldn't give tazers to all but a few coppers but there's definately a place for them in some circumstances.

[JulianHJ]

Risotto said:

Somnophore said:

Most police don't want firearms and would vote not to have them, it's been surveyed numerous times, I think tazers should be rolled out to trained officers, there will always be idiots, who will be reprimanded, no organisation is perfect as it's
made up of human beings but tazers can save lives of the public, offenders and officers.

I agree - partly because we don't have the same cultural attachment to handguns as they do in some other countries; partly because they simply aren't to be trusted with anything capable of inflicting lethal injuries.

Every officer carries a potentially lethal weapon already - a baton.

[Frankeh]

JulianHJ said:

Risotto said:

Somnophore said:

Most police don't want firearms and would vote not to have them, it's been surveyed numerous times, I think tazers should be rolled out to trained officers, there will always be idiots, who will be reprimanded, no organisation is perfect as it's
made up of human beings but tazers can save lives of the public, offenders and officers.

I agree - partly because we don't have the same cultural attachment to handguns as they do in some other countries; partly because they simply aren't to be trusted with anything capable of inflicting lethal injuries.

Every officer carries a potentially lethal weapon already - a baton.

Yeah, but it takes effort and dedication to kill someone with a baton.
Pulling a trigger requires no effort and no dedication..

[Einion Yrth]

Frankeh said:

JulianHJ said:

Risotto said:

Somnophore said:

Most police don't want firearms and would vote not to have them, it's been surveyed numerous times, I think tazers should be rolled out to trained officers, there will always be idiots, who will be reprimanded, no organisation is perfect as it's
made up of human beings but tazers can save lives of the public, offenders and officers.

I agree - partly because we don't have the same cultural attachment to handguns as they do in some other countries; partly because they simply aren't to be trusted with anything capable of inflicting lethal injuries.

Every officer carries a potentially lethal weapon already - a baton.

Yeah, but it takes effort and dedication to kill someone with a baton.
Pulling a trigger requires no effort and no dedication..

Are you suggesting the police aren't dedicated?

[Miguel Alvarez]

I hope they all don't. I have one of those looks, when not in a suit, that means I get stopped and asked what I'm doing in an area at a certain time as I "fit the description" on a regular basis. I tolerated it at 21 but now at 31 I get rightly pissed off when some jumped up nerd with a badge sees an ethnic in trainers he doesn't like the look of. All officers having guns would scare the st out of me.

[Risotto]

JulianHJ said:

Risotto said:

Somnophore said:

Most police don't want firearms and would vote not to have them, it's been surveyed numerous times, I think tazers should be rolled out to trained officers, there will always be idiots, who will be reprimanded, no organisation is perfect as it's
made up of human beings but tazers can save lives of the public, offenders and officers.

I agree - partly because we don't have the same cultural attachment to handguns as they do in some other countries; partly because they simply aren't to be trusted with anything capable of inflicting lethal injuries.

Every officer carries a potentially lethal weapon already - a baton.

Nevertheless, people don't often end up dead when the police start waving their batons about. Where firearms are concerned the police do seem to have an unfortunate habit of getting rather over-excited and shooting people they shouldn't. I imagine this trend would only increase if firearms were issued in greater numbers.

Edited by Risotto on Thursday 9th December 12:37

[Elroy Blue]

Risotto said:

JulianHJ said:

Risotto said:

Somnophore said:

Most police don't want firearms and would vote not to have them, it's been surveyed numerous times, I think tazers should be rolled out to trained officers, there will always be idiots, who will be reprimanded, no organisation is perfect as it's
made up of human beings but tazers can save lives of the public, offenders and officers.

I agree - partly because we don't have the same cultural attachment to handguns as they do in some other countries; partly because they simply aren't to be trusted with anything capable of inflicting lethal injuries.

Every officer carries a potentially lethal weapon already - a baton.

Nevertheless, people don't often end up dead when the police start waving their batons about. Where firearms are concerned the police do seem to have an unfortunate habit of getting rather over-excited and shooting people they shouldn't. I imagine this trend would only increase if firearms were issued in greater numbers.

Edited by Risotto on Thursday 9th December 12:37

Would you like to share your knowledge on the number of firearms attended against the number of times a firearm is discharged!

[mattmurdock]

Frankeh said:

JulianHJ said:

Risotto said:

Somnophore said:

Most police don't want firearms and would vote not to have them, it's been surveyed numerous times, I think tazers should be rolled out to trained officers, there will always be idiots, who will be reprimanded, no organisation is perfect as it's
made up of human beings but tazers can save lives of the public, offenders and officers.

I agree - partly because we don't have the same cultural attachment to handguns as they do in some other countries; partly because they simply aren't to be trusted with anything capable of inflicting lethal injuries.

Every officer carries a potentially lethal weapon already - a baton.

Yeah, but it takes effort and dedication to kill someone with a baton.
Pulling a trigger requires no effort and no dedication..

I think you'll find that actually hitting anything smaller than a barn door in a real-life situation does take some effort and dedication...

[Frankeh]

mattmurdock said:

Frankeh said:

JulianHJ said:

Risotto said:

Somnophore said:

Most police don't want firearms and would vote not to have them, it's been surveyed numerous times, I think tazers should be rolled out to trained officers, there will always be idiots, who will be reprimanded, no organisation is perfect as it's
made up of human beings but tazers can save lives of the public, offenders and officers.

I agree - partly because we don't have the same cultural attachment to handguns as they do in some other countries; partly because they simply aren't to be trusted with anything capable of inflicting lethal injuries.

Every officer carries a potentially lethal weapon already - a baton.

Yeah, but it takes effort and dedication to kill someone with a baton.
Pulling a trigger requires no effort and no dedication..

I think you'll find that actually hitting anything smaller than a barn door in a real-life situation does take some effort and dedication...

Less than beating someone to death with a stick. A lot less.

[mattmurdock]

Frankeh said:

mattmurdock said:

Frankeh said:

JulianHJ said:

Risotto said:

Somnophore said:

Most police don't want firearms and would vote not to have them, it's been surveyed numerous times, I think tazers should be rolled out to trained officers, there will always be idiots, who will be reprimanded, no organisation is perfect as it's
made up of human beings but tazers can save lives of the public, offenders and officers.

I agree - partly because we don't have the same cultural attachment to handguns as they do in some other countries; partly because they simply aren't to be trusted with anything capable of inflicting lethal injuries.

Every officer carries a potentially lethal weapon already - a baton.

Yeah, but it takes effort and dedication to kill someone with a baton.
Pulling a trigger requires no effort and no dedication..

I think you'll find that actually hitting anything smaller than a barn door in a real-life situation does take some effort and dedication...

Less than beating someone to death with a stick. A lot less.

Have you tried both?

In all seriousness, whilst a gun is a more capable lethal object than a baton in the hands of someone with training, unless the target is standing still I would suggest that an untrained person attempting to kill with either weapon would likely have the same result.