usmarine
Banned
+2,785|7192

"Specialist units in the PSNI will be armed with Taser guns from this weekend."
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/nort … 210285.stm

Is this just one step closer to the police in the UK carrying guns?  It seems the US took a step back trying to introduce tasers and "knee knockers"  for example.  Is this the reverse of the US?  Do you think guns will eventually be carried by police in UK?

Last edited by usmarine2005 (2008-01-26 09:39:17)

ATG
Banned
+5,233|6960|Global Command
They gotta stop them leprechauns.
Ender2309
has joined the GOP
+470|7001|USA
i hope so.
King_County_Downy
shitfaced
+2,791|7028|Seattle

They'll tase you bro. Seriously.

Seriously.

Sober enough to know what I'm doing, drunk enough to really enjoy doing it
IG-Calibre
comhalta
+226|7173|Tír Eoghan, Tuaisceart Éireann
eh?.. police in NI have always been armed & have been responsible for 363 deaths including 75 children since 1969..  Taser guns if anything are for replacing Rubber/plastic bullets which have claimed the lives of 14 people including 7 children since their introduction for dealing with civil disturbances..

Last edited by IG-Calibre (2008-01-26 02:44:15)

Johnny_Extremer
I Am McLovin!!!!
+22|6691

King_County_Downy wrote:

They'll tase you bro. Seriously.

Seriously.



Ahhhhh this joke never gets old lol.

Last edited by Johnny_Extremer (2008-01-26 02:35:30)

Kurazoo
Pheasant Plucker
+440|7115|West Yorkshire, U.K

Johnny_Extremer wrote:



Ahhhhh this joke never gets old lol.
lold
andy12
Banned
+52|7088
Does it kill you if you have like a Heart problem?
The#1Spot
Member
+105|6970|byah

andy12 wrote:

Does it kill you if you have like a Heart problem?
yes a high chance of death
Ajax_the_Great1
Dropped on request
+206|7077

IG-Calibre wrote:

eh?.. police in NI have always been armed & have been responsible for 363 deaths including 75 children since 1969..  Taser guns if anything are for replacing Rubber/plastic bullets which have claimed the lives of 14 people including 7 children since their introduction for dealing with civil disturbances..
And by children do you mean anyone under 18?
Skorpy-chan
Member
+127|6775|Twyford, UK
Tazers > real guns. You can shoot someone only a few times, but you can taze them repeatedly over and over and over and watch them twitch and flail.

I want one in BF2, dammit.
IG-Calibre
comhalta
+226|7173|Tír Eoghan, Tuaisceart Éireann

Ajax_the_Great1 wrote:

IG-Calibre wrote:

eh?.. police in NI have always been armed & have been responsible for 363 deaths including 75 children since 1969..  Taser guns if anything are for replacing Rubber/plastic bullets which have claimed the lives of 14 people including 7 children since their introduction for dealing with civil disturbances..
And by children do you mean anyone under 18?
it's not me who is defining them as children, so what the exact definition criteria is i'm not sure tbh. If we're talking strictly about death by rubber bullets? i would consider the following children : Francis Rowntree  Aged 11yrs,  Stephen Geddis Age 10 yrs, Brian Stewart Age 13 yrs, Carol Ann Kelly Age 12 yrs, Stephen McConomy Age 11 yrs,  Seamus Duffy Age 15 yrs.
GunSlinger OIF II
Banned.
+1,860|7074
Cops LOVE the shit out of Tasers
Shocking
sorry you feel that way
+333|6430|...

GunSlinger OIF II wrote:

Cops LOVE the shit out of Tasers
It makes hurting people actually funny.
inane little opines
Jepeto87
Member
+38|7116|Dublin
They've always been armed in the north, the souths police aren't but have special units when a situation deteriorates to that point.
usmarine
Banned
+2,785|7192

Jepeto87 wrote:

They've always been armed in the north, the souths police aren't but have special units when a situation deteriorates to that point.
Didn't know that.  So I guess I will change my OP.  But do you think this will lead to guns for police in all of the UK?
andy12
Banned
+52|7088

usmarine2005 wrote:

Jepeto87 wrote:

They've always been armed in the north, the souths police aren't but have special units when a situation deteriorates to that point.
Didn't know that.  So I guess I will change my OP.  But do you think this will lead to guns for police in all of the UK?
Nope, I think we're fine with our armed police and separate police thing we have going on...
IG-Calibre
comhalta
+226|7173|Tír Eoghan, Tuaisceart Éireann
USM - there always has been armed police response units in the UK. Only in N.Ireland  every police officer is issued a gun for personal protection, when policing is normalised here i'd imagine that will nolonger be the case. Community policing on the other hand are not armed, and no the issuing of tasers is not indicative of every police officer in the UK  being armed if this is what you mean.
usmarine
Banned
+2,785|7192

IG-Calibre wrote:

USM - there always has been armed police response units in the UK.
I just mean your everyday normal cop walking the beat.
M.O.A.B
'Light 'em up!'
+1,220|6653|Escea

usmarine2005 wrote:

IG-Calibre wrote:

USM - there always has been armed police response units in the UK.
I just mean your everyday normal cop walking the beat.
Not sure, London might at some point, as there's quite a bit of gun crime down there. But then again there's more community support officers than proper cops these days, which is kinda bad as they don't really have any power.
_j5689_
Dreads & Bergers
+364|7147|Riva, MD

IG-Calibre wrote:

Ajax_the_Great1 wrote:

IG-Calibre wrote:

eh?.. police in NI have always been armed & have been responsible for 363 deaths including 75 children since 1969..  Taser guns if anything are for replacing Rubber/plastic bullets which have claimed the lives of 14 people including 7 children since their introduction for dealing with civil disturbances..
And by children do you mean anyone under 18?
it's not me who is defining them as children, so what the exact definition criteria is i'm not sure tbh. If we're talking strictly about death by rubber bullets? i would consider the following children : Francis Rowntree  Aged 11yrs,  Stephen Geddis Age 10 yrs, Brian Stewart Age 13 yrs, Carol Ann Kelly Age 12 yrs, Stephen McConomy Age 11 yrs,  Seamus Duffy Age 15 yrs.
Why the fuck would anyone need to use supposedly non-lethal force on children anyway?  Is is it because of their idiot parents that bring them along to riots?  At the 2004 Bush inauguration, I was watching the news and I saw this one idiot bring his baby daughter with him to a riot area around the front of the area and the police were using pepper spray on the crowd.

andy12 wrote:

usmarine2005 wrote:

Jepeto87 wrote:

They've always been armed in the north, the souths police aren't but have special units when a situation deteriorates to that point.
Didn't know that.  So I guess I will change my OP.  But do you think this will lead to guns for police in all of the UK?
Nope, I think we're fine with our armed police and separate police thing we have going on...
At one time I would think this to be the most retarded idea ever, but it actually works quite well.

It probably saves the government millions if not billions because they don't have to equip every individual officer with an expensive handgun or even a shotgun for some of the cars (not that shotguns even fit in gay hatchbacks anyway, lol).  I'm not entirely sure whether or not the U.K. trains all officers in the use of firearms but if they do not, then this could also have the benefit of speeding up training as well, if only a little bit.

Gun ownership is very tightly restricted in Britain, everybody that owns one is one is on record, and I imagine there's not a whole lot of people there anyway that do have one.  This means that the likelihood of encountering someone with a gun is much much lower than it would be in other places.  So cops with non-lethal deterrents are for the most part quite effective, and if, in that rare situation, someone is encountered with a gun, there is always the armed police.

The only thing missing in my opinion from the U.K. police force is possibly armored patrol cars and maybe some lightweight form of body armor for the aforementioned situation.  Maybe they already have that, I don't know.  They only problem I could see from not being armed is that there might not be enough intimidation inflicted on an unarmed suspect, and therefore it would be harder to deal with things in a timely fashion.

Just my boredom inspired two cents.
Noobeater
Northern numpty
+194|6877|Boulder, CO
They already have lightweight stab proof vests that they have to wear all the time when on duty. Thought I don't think it could stop a bullet. As you said it is very hard to legally get a gun here as its only legal to have a .22 if you have had the required training tto use it (normally through the military) and other than that only shotguns are legally allowed and even then its only birdshot firing ones as pump actions are illegal. The problem has always been that crimal gangs have simple taken the ferry to say holland or france then drove into eastern europe where it is still relatively easily to get guns on the black market, they then buy one or two then go back and I don't think there are any contriband checks so they can do it relatively easily. Or so I have gathered by several BBC news articles.

Personally I think that the police should only be armed with tasers if they area that they patrol is very rough e.g. some parts of south london or the worst area's in manchester.

I would also go along with the idea that the police should have at least 3 officers who have firearms training in each station and a small cache of weapons under lock and key in the station just in case.
HollisHurlbut
Member
+51|6428
I think the police should have to abide by the same laws as everyone else.  If the average UK citizen can walk around with a taser, the cops should also be able to do so.  Cops are just citizens like everyone else.
MrE`158
Member
+103|7054
I'm pretty sure that every police officer in the UK receives at least some firearms-training.  Those who are good at it are then given a tour with SO19 (the armed response guys), but I don't think anyone stays with SO19 for long.

Interestingly, found this on BBC today, police in Nottingham are going on armed patrol.  Apparently, after a series of stabbings in gang-related fights, they want to make sure that the gangs don't move up to using guns, and they figure that armed cops will dissuade them.  I'm not convinced of that logic myself, it sounds like a good way to "force" the gangs to get guns to keep the police at bay.
KylieTastic
Games, Girls, Guinness
+85|6883|Cambridge, UK

usmarine2005 wrote:

Is this just one step closer to the police in the UK carrying guns?  Do you think guns will eventually be carried by police in UK?
Nope.

That was NI which has no influence on policy on mainland UK
The police in NI have always had more guns
It only says "Specialist units" anyway so not even a default in NI

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