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Old 06-27-2008, 09:03 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Don View Post
I do not recall, excluding the military, does everyone in the UK police force carry a handgun ?
Hi Don,
The vast majority of British Police don't carry firearms.

In general, crime has reduced in the UK, but only a tiny fraction of crime is gun related and that tends to be gang related. However, we do have a bit of a knife issue at present with teenagers carrying knifes, supposedly to protect themselves. However, all that appears to be happening is that once a knife is drawn, it escalates a minor dispute into a potential killing, when it may have been a simple brawl had knifes not been present.

I will gladly acknowledge that our laws have tended to favour the criminals and anyone who has taken it upon themselves to take on any intruder or assailant has left themselves open to intense scrutiny from the authorities as to whether justifiable force was used. However, that situation seems to have been addressed more recently, with the government basically giving the all clear to defend yourself, family or property (but not with a firearm).

The issue that concerns many people at present in Britain is that of apparently lawless juveniles. A few people have been attacked and very sadly, killed by gangs of "kids" when they have been confronted by a member of the public for some misdemeanour. Thankfully, very few, if any of these tragic events have involved firearms, not that that is any consolation to those involved or their families.

Paul
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