Police in the UK do not currently have to carry guns. The topic of whether they should has come to light again after the recent attacks at Westminster. Some people argue that if all police were allowed to carry guns then Khalid Masood wouldn’t haven’t been able to kill as many people. Still there are many reasons for the police not to carry guns.

  1. It is very costly. If this rule was to take place then it would cost the government billions. A gun costs around £150 and there of thousands of police plus all police would need training as well. The government at the moment does not have the money to waste on unnecessary weapons and needs to spend money on other areas.
  2. It will make people become more afraid and create a hostile environment. People might think that the police might use a gun without a justifiable reason. There will be more chances of the police killing innocent people such as when they killed Jean De Menzes. Here the police thought he was a terrorist when actually he was an ordinary tourist. Anyone who shows any danger to the public might get shot. A policeman having a bad day might take out on someone which would cause a lot of hostility.
  3. With increased police killings people the people might riot and cause an uproar.
  4. The extra production of guns it will make it easier for people to hold of them. People now might try and rob police for their weapon. Some policemen and women are not necessarily strong and therefore can easily be manhandled.
  5. As people will be used to seeing guns every day they will more likely want to get them for themselves. They will think" if the police have a gun I will need one to protect myself." The guns could easily getinton the wrong hands again.

A safer world

There are some arguments for police having guns and some people think that it will make our country safer but I don’t really believe in that as described above.

I believe it will create a bad atmosphere which will make people more likely to commit crimes. Countries where police are allowed to shoot people have a high Murder Rate such as the

Countries where police are allowed to shoot people, have a high murder rate such as the Philippines and Egypt. I wouldn’t like to live in a country where the police were allowed to shoot anybody for any reason. It will create more tension and hostility. Police have enough powers already to stop crime. They can call for military assistance if needed, at present there isn’t a war on our streets so there isn’t a need for all police to carry guns. That is not saying there wont be a need in the future. If things get a lot worse then maybe our government may need to introduce this law. At present if someone is acting suspiciously ordinary police without a gun can get military help if they need to. That is enough for now.
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