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Christine, South East, UK
The police deserve the right to protect themselves, but this is all that arming them would achieve. I don't think the level of gun crime would drop as a result.

Mohammed, Northern England, UK
I think its time for the police to be armed and become a bigger threat to so called gangsters. Its not worth wasting time and time or even risking lives for a peaceful resolution. If you have to figght fire with fire then that is how it should be.

Ioma, Northern England, UK
Yes yes yes Leeds police wear body armour as the norm. It is the next step

Mark, Northern England, UK
I noticed one person had said that if you're a law abiding citizen you've got nothing to worry about... Yeah right like the police don't already profile certain groups regardless of guilt, the thought of some edgy first year copper sticking a gun in your face may not be of concern to middle England, but trust me it will happen in big cities and when the village bobby spots an 'outsider'acting suspiciously in Royston Vassey. There have been armed police roaming the streets of Merseyside for years, they've already killed at least one person and the smart money's on a couple more.

Ilya, South East, UK
Criminals know that police officers do not carry firearms, which means they know they will not get shot, so criminals will not need guns for self defence unless confronted with another gang etc.

Robert, Scotland, UK
Arming Police may lead to the effect of criminals 'upping' their arsenal of weapons. For some criminals it would act as a deterrent, but so would no-nonsense jail terms for being caught with gun posession. I'd rather have more armed response units than having all police potentially armed.

Gareth, London, UK
Personally i feel police in the U.K should be allowed to carry firearms. With many criminals already owning weapons the police just arent safe any more. The gun amnesty was a good idea, and many people turned in weapons, however there is still a large number of people with firearms roaming the streets. The police need protection and by carrying firearms this may lead to the criminals thinking twice before attacking the police. In USA and many other countrys world wide police carry firearms which helps protect them from violence. Although police carrying could lead to an increase in gun violence but i feel this isnt the case as gun violence is already soaring. Police need to feel safe on the job and if firearms are going to help the police this is a good idea. If the police feel unsafe and intimidated this could potentially lead to future police leaving the job or not signing up which would lead to a state of emergency in the country as there would be a low amount !

Mudssr, Northern England, UK
I think police should be allowed to carry weapons. If needed they should also be able to shoot someone if there is a risk of another persons life. Frankly, peaceful resolutions can take long and can be dangerous. Only earlier this year a man held a person hostage. The police were looking for a peaceful resolution. In the end the found the man dead. In america police officers have more freedom. I am sick of people who stick up for the criminals. Eg. Human right groups. They expect the police not to be armed while another persons life is at risk. Peaceful resolution may be a good thing but what is the point if people end up dead and what about the cost to run these operations?

Peter, Midlands, UK
We never hear statistics about civilian deaths and casualties in U.S shoot-outs Why not? The Americans carry weapons as a result of an amendment drafted into their constitution when the west was wild and lynch mobs were commonplace The more guns the police have, the more illegal guns will be acquired by the criminals Stopping criminals acquiring arms is about as effective as trying to stop Saddam from producing WMD.

Ian, Midlands, UK
Although it would be initially sensible to have more armed Police, I think the long term effect would be an escalation of gun related crimes as the criminals would consider themselves justified in being armed like the Police. A more sensible approach would be to spend more time and effort in closing down the illegal shipment of arms into this country and not to continue to treat armed incidents with minimal punishment as favoured by liberalist thinkers in this country.

Ishbar, Midlands, UK
There sould be specialised teams of trained police carrying arms like we have at the moment only more visable.

Mhairi, Scotland, UK
I have lived in countries where the police were armed. It did not dissuade others from carrying illegally imported weapons but gave one a feeling of greater security when calling the police to deal with a situation. It also deterred the opportunist.

Janet, South East, UK
Police should only be armed in areas where guns are frequently used.

Melanie, Northern England, UK
My fiancee is a policeman, and I believe that he should be able to carry a gun, not just for control reasons, but also for his own safety.

Kevin, South East, UK
I have mixed views, on the one hand the police should be able to protect themselves and the law abiding, on the other, guns breed more guns. On balance I'd say no to routine carrying of arms.

Rebecca, Midlands, UK
I think they should be armed but only specific parts of the police service. Other offices should be armed but not with guns, with a nice stun gun for example... shocking.

Damian, UK
You could argue that it's all about them being able to protect themselves. But look at the amount of armed police here compared to the USA. Then look at the amount of gun crime here compared to the USA. Draw your own conclusions.

Karen, Northern England, UK
Perhaps the government could loan out personnel from our armed forces to accompany our police and support them in cases where firearms are involved; after all, our armed forces have had a lifetime of training in the use of such weapons and are better conditioned to use them.

Christine, Midlands, UK
More needs to be done. Less on traffic duty more on street crime.

Karen, Scotland, UK
Unfotunately nowadays the criminals are often armed and it is wrong to expect Police to go into these situations without any weapon. Nobody wants firearms on the streets at all but if the criminals have them the police must too.

Heather, Scotland, UK
YES, UK police should be armed so they can resolve a situation before it gets out of hand without car chases etc if it can be helped. But I find that the rise in gun crime is very worrying when you think of USA and they carry guns everywhere and the amount of people killed by guns over there is enormous. Time to stamp it out over here before we go the same way.

Lynn, South East, UK
I don't think the police should be armed, except in special circumstances. If the police routinely carry guns, then more criminals will start carrying them.

Alison, Ireland
I think police should carry firearms. Sometimes it is enough of a threat just for a criminal to know you have that power over them without actually using your weapon.

Ian, UK
I do not think all Police should be armed , I think there might be a case for a certain few in each station to carry guns , but I think there would also be a lot more accidental shootings if all Police were armed.

Claire, Scotland, UK
Is it really necessary for the police to have guns? I would prefer they had something that immobilised criminals whilst they were disarmed, something similar to a stun gun. Giving the police guns does not give out a good message. Just look at all the guns in America? Having armed police hasnt exactly eradicated serious crime over there has it?

Kath, South East, UK
It is time for our police force to have a much bigger presence. I do think they should be armed but also they should be seen to patrol our streets in the war against crime.

Emma, London, UK
I think stun guns are more than enough right now. Otherwise it wouldn't be long before you heard of an innocent civilians death. We have specialist armed forces, if necessary.

Raymond, South East, UK
I think the police need to be armed. Too many criminals are these days,and it's the way for the police to defend themselves.

Stewart, South East, UK
Police should be armed, but do not tell the general public. That way the arguement about criminals arming themselves as well is not valid.

Bob, Scotland, UK
I cannot see a problem with fully arming the police as long as training is given. If you are a law abiding citizen then you have nothing to worry about. Gun crime is becoming far too common and I, for one, wouldn't like to be a police patrol without a means of protecting myself and other innocents.

Jim, Midlands, UK
Yes it's time the Police were armed, but it's also time there were more of them on the streets and not in cars.

Brian, Northern England, UK
I think the police should not be armed because, as is the case in America, the criminals are more likely to carry guns themselves if the police carry them.

Stephanie, Midlands, UK
I think the police should be given the option to carry sidearms. With gun crime on the increase and violent crime going through the roof arming the police would be the most sensible thing to do. However the individual policeman should be given the choice.

Fiona, Scotland, UK
Police should not carry firearms unless absolutely necessary.

Iuayna, Scotland, UK
I think it may help for the police to be armed but i think there should be many rules and only used when vital.it would put a whole lot more responsibility on a policeman/woman and it hould be their choice if they want to have a firearm or not.

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