to think all police were armed?

[strawberrygate]

I'm really not seeing why this would now be a bad thing. There were police right there at the London attack, and if they'd been armed then some lives could have been saved.
If someone drives a truck through a crowd in somewhere random like Sheffield, there will be police there, but currently not armed. How would they stop them? they would have no option but stand and wait until armed response arrived, which in most areas would be a hell of a lot longer than the 5 mins. or so it took in central London.
We're sitting ducks.

How would armed police stop a van? What are you proposing to arm them with?

By shooting through the windscreen .

And I'm proposing that they are armed with guns.

OP should say "should be armed", obviously

There's extensive debate within the police force about whether and when officers should be armed. Many actively do not want to be.

The current system of firearms suport groups does seem to be the best, in the sense of garnering most support and ensuring the highest standards. There could perhaps be more of them.

Sheffield is covered by firearms support, btw.

YABU.

This would create an arms race between criminals and police. Plus police have said they no not want regular beat police to be armed. Our police are taught how to de-escuate situations rather than rocking up and shooting a la USA. Imagine a domestic violence call out or drunk yob, waving guns around would only wind them up further.

The reasons this arseholes use vans and knives and home made bombs is because of how hard it is to get guns and automatic weapons in the UK. You realise if all officers were armed they would become targets purely to get their guns? And they'd kill a lot more with guns (Bataclan).

And you couldn't limit it to London. You'd have to equip every officer in the country. Ridiculous notion.

You really think more guns on the street make those streets safer? If those men had known there would be armed police everywhere they might also have come armed with guns rather than knives. I very much doubt that would have resulted in fewer people being killed.

I'm not proud of much British these days but I'm bloody proud I live in a country where armed police are not the norm.

It is better to have trained armed response who are specifically trained than all. People have different talents and if equal importance. As ex military not everyone should have a gun as I know I shouldn't!
Shooting vehicles can cause even more fatalities.

Only 25% of police want to be armed. Can you force them all to carry guns? There will be many who view the routine carrying of guns as completely against what they personally believe policing should be and what policing the country should be.

Plus our firearms teams are very highly trained, we simply occult afford to train every member of the police to this standard.

Shooting through a windscreen does not stop a vehicle. It causes it to veer wildly until it crashes. Assuming the driver is injured, of course, but injuries severe enough to incapacitate (even partially) are not a sure thing with that sort of shot.

The difference between us and the USA is that people ( in general) cannot legally buy firearms her so we wouldn't get that situation where everyone has guns.
From speaking to people in the met. they are very much in favour in all police being armed

Given that the majority of our police have no more firearms training than you or I (and many don't want to), it's significantly more complicated than just giving them all a firearm.

Also, I can't see how beat policeman carrying guns is going to do anything to enhance or promote community interrelationships.

Peope are not going to attack a police person with a knife so that they can steal their gun. What a silly thing to say. I don't think anyone's ever tried to nick a gun off the armed police in airports etc.

Armed officers are volunteers, i.e. they have to offer to undertake training and be armed. Given the year-long shitstorm they have to go through with the IPCC every time they have to fire their weapons, I wouldn't volunteer. It's not worth it for what they earn.

You would struggle to get all officers routinely armed tbh so it's a moot point.

I also feel obliged to point out, in the interests of balance, that police people in possession of firearms are not beyond shooting innocent people.

mpsw these lorry attacks occur in places with lots of people and lots of buildings, I think it's a better chance if the driver is shot dead and the lorry then veers into a building, rather than everyone watching on as a drive steers it into crowds of people for 10 minutes.

unclejamie why would we struggle to arm all police officers? i don't understand. Lots of other countries manage it.

What about police officers who do not wish to have the responsibility of such a weapon?

Better to have dedicated, trained firearms officers.

Australian police are all armed. Look up some of the wrongful deaths by police because of guns there.

We recently had a vechical attack in Melbourne too

A police woman was stabbed in France for her gun.

BIG DISCLAIMER, I am not an expert in ballistics, but surely it's incredibly difficult to take an accurate shot at a target going 50/60 mph, whilst taking into account changes in trajectory due to windscreen glass, car bodywork etc, I'd have thought the best thing to stop a van, would be another car or van.
Whether or not UK police need to be routinely armed is a different debate.