Yesterday, two unarmed UK police officers died in a grenade and gun attack. The as-yet-unnamed perp murdered Pc Fiona Bone, 32, and Pc Nicola Hughes, 23; setting off a firestorm of firearms “debate.” Needless to say the gun-oriented hand-wringing doesn’t include even a passing mention of restoring the average Brit’s once-sacred right to armed self-defense. It’s all about whether or not the UK should arm the police—despite the fact that the issue has already been settled . . .
“We have firearms officers regularly patrolling the streets of the UK already,” the Police Federation of England and Wales told dailymail.co.uk. Indeed they do, especially in areas with “high value” targets (e.g., The City, Heathrow Airport, The Mall), where coppers with MP5’s are as common as twenty-somethings with taut abs at thechive.com.
But really, the last thing The Land of Hope and Glory wants to become is . . . America. Yes folks, that’s the UK’s excuse for sending unarmed police against armed criminals (and prohibiting civilians from protecting themselves against violence by force of arms).
The president of the Association of Chief Police Officers, Sir Hugh Orde, warned against a rush to routinely arm officers.
‘Guns don’t necessarily solve the problem,’ he said. ‘You only have to look at the American experience. Many colleagues in America are lost without even drawing their gun at close ranges.’
Sir Hugh said it was the ‘clear view of the British police service from top to bottom’ that officers prefer to be unarmed because the public dislike approaching constables bearing weapons.
He said minimum use of force and intervention was the ‘bedrock’ of Britain’s policing model.
A police state—the most surveilled nation on planet earth where subjects do not have a right to remain silent—led by a knighted bureaucrat whose minions want to maintain good PR by being at the mercy of armed thugs. I mean, by being so nice that they don’t carry guns. Even though a lot of them do.
Makes sense to me. But let’s hear it again anyway . . .
The Chief Constable of Greater Manchester force has also rejected calls for more guns on the streets.
Sir Peter Fahy said: ‘We are passionate that the British style of policing is routinely unarmed policing.
‘Sadly we know from the experience in America that having armed officers certainly does not mean, sadly, that police officers do not end up getting shot.’
Sadly, the UK’s coppers work in a country with higher violent crime rates than the U.S.: 2,034 vs. 466 violent crimes per 100k residents. Assuming the numbers haven’t been fudged. In fact, Britain tops the league table for the highest crime rates in Europe.
So whether or not the UK police get shot less than U.S. cops may be THE question for UK police, one wonders what, if anything, they’re going to do about the violent crime problem plaguing the commoners.
Oh wait! I know. Ratchet-up police numbers, increase government surveillance and up penalties for anyone who dares possess a weapon with which they’d have a chance of defending themselves. All in the name of creating a country where gun violence doesn’t happen, except when it does.
Sounds like a plan.