Quote:
Originally Posted by Hugh
What warning shots? "Warning shots" and "shooting someone in the arm to disable them" only happens in films/tv, not in real life - when trained with firearms, you are trained to hit the biggest target (the trunk) with at least two rounds.
If you fire a "warning shot", where do you think the bullet goes? Fire it into the air, our friend gravity will bring it back down on to someone/something; fire it into a wall/the ground, it will ricochet.
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Well,I read a couple of years ago that two cops in Frankfurt shot an axe-wielding thug in the legs,so it doesn't just happens in films... but I know what you mean. In fact I just found a website with many other examples of cops shooting suspects mainly in the legs to stop them! I hope your Deutsch is still up to scratch,ja?
http://www.schusswaffeneinsatz.de/Fa...izeibeamte.pdf
and about the warning shots.... if possible police will fire them into the ground (grass,mud and the like), otherwise in the air afaik.
In case you're wondering how I know so much about german police... apart from living there for a long time I also have friends in the german police. You know what they think about their UK counterparts being unarmed? They think it's madness... and I agree. Having to shoot a crook if push comes to shove is part of the job,sometimes it's the only play left to protect the public.... sad but true.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Pierre
Not everybody in the police would be up to the task of handling a fire arm.
Police should not be armed unilaterily.
I think the present system of Armed Response Units is the right balance.
Give them batons, pepper spray, even tasers - but not guns.
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Why not? Why this deep distrust? How does a baton and spray help against a knife or axe-wielding thug or someone with a firearm? How does a taser help with that?
How will a cop protect an innocent member of the public if the crook is willing to do serious damage? Sometimes lethal force is all that's left.
Quote:
Originally Posted by danielf
I've read this a couple of times now, and I can only come to the conclusion that you appeal to vagueries because you really have no substantive arguments against equipping police with firearms. 
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Thank you,well put.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Derek
I know a fair few cops who have jumped to become Police in Australia and Canada and a couple of other places. In all cases they have managed to transfer from being unarmed to carrying a pistol without becoming trigger happy lunatics.
One in particular has used his taser at least three times but never had to even draw his glock. He's gone from being moderately anti-gun to thinking that going on patrol without it is unthinkable despite never having needed it.
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That's the thing that most people don't seem to realise... a tiny,tiny minority of cops will ever use their gun....
however I do believe it is a legitimate tool to force compliance,if necessary. Like I said in my earlier reply,my german cop friends find the idea of an unarmed police force ludicrous.... I agree.