Give guns to police
Arm the police? Damn right they should carry guns. Remember the old maxim: Never take a knife to a gunfight.
Would you want to confront some brain-fried P-Freak wielding an automatic rifle when all you had, in effect, was a heavy stick and can of souped up fly-spray?
I won't even mention tasers as few cops seem to have been trained to use them and, let's face it, a bullet flies further and faster than a high-voltage piece of wire.
After the Napier siege and the tragic death of one officer and the severe wounding of two others, I waited for the media and the public debate over arming the police. Nothing happened.
There was little mention of the idea in the papers, little debate on the blogs and I did not hear any argument in TV or radio bulletins that the time was now long overdue to give our cops the ability to protect themselves and the public from armed maniacs.
As one highly experienced police officer said today, arming the police is a "no brainer". The world of policing has changed, the criminals are well armed and they have no hesitation in using the weapons.
Take just one province, Manawatu. There the local paper, the Manawatu Standard, recently reported that the local armed offenders squad were called out to a record 64 incidents in the last financial year, up from 51 the previous year.
Okay, I know the district includes Palmerston North, one of the loopiest cities in the country, but this is a predominantly rural, small-town district and yet it's seeing gunplay of Wild West proportions.
A survey done last year shows both public and police opinion warming to the idea of armed police. Fifty-five per cent of the public were in favour and 48 per cent of the traditionally more conservative police wanted general arming of frontline officers.
Support will have grown even more since the death of officers Don Wilkinson and Len Snee.
I know there will be those who cry, "What about Halatau Naitoko?" He was the young courier driver shot dead on an Auckland motorway when he was caught in police crossfire as they pursued a gunman.
Their argument will be there is an increased risk of danger to the innocent public with generally armed police resulting in more shootouts.
Yet, surely, there could be a case made that if police had been armed from the start of the long incident the alleged offender would have been detained much sooner, the crazed car chase across the city might have been avoided, and an innocent man would not have been accidentally shot when the armed offenders squad finally caught up.
Criminals, particularly drug dealers, are heavily armed - as recent police raids have demonstrated. Mainly they seem concerned with shooting each other but when unarmed police officers and civilians get in the way, few gunmen seem to have any compunction in shooting them as well.
That someone as barking mad as Jan Molenaar could amass a huge arsenal, including military weapons, is not an argument for gun control. The crazed and the criminal don't obey gun control laws.
The only answer is for police to be regularly armed so that they can defend us and themselves.
Forget smacking, arming the police is something well worth a referendum.
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All police officers carry guns in their cars, they just dont have side arms. Making them carry guns everywhere is just stupid, it will just make the criminals shoot before they get shot. Do we really want to turn into America?
police have the AOS... thats enough, otherwise more innocents will be shot.
Well if you believe in the cause that much, start a petition.
I have always felt the police were to protect the public, not shoot them. If you need someone shot call the army, like the anti-terrorist squad. We could possibly make arms available to Police on a as needs basis, like formalising the shotguns that are often already in the boots of the patrol cars.
Security is based on consequences, if we fear criminals using firearms then we must increase the consequence of them doing so. Arming the Police just puts more guns on the streets and exposes more people to accidents. We dont need any accidentally shot children regardless of whole pulls the trigger.
I like the concept that the public should support the Police and the Police protect the public. I feel armed Police is a significant barrier to positive open relations. Tazers, pepper spray and protective vests yes, firearms no.
What a stupid idea. We saw how tragic the use of guns when an innocent bystander got shot by Police in Auckland earlier this year, and this was a marksman. I cant see the justification nor the sense. Even the tazer is getting bad press around the world - it's being misused. Examples of ill disciplined police are almost a weekly occurrence now. Heaven help us if they get guns.
I totally agree that the police should carry guns, the laws in this country are way to soft - getting a life sentence for murder means just 12 years in this country - insane!!!! Follow some of the U.S. rules when it comes to law. And saying "forget smacking" is wrong!!! I am so opposed smacking and get incredibly frustrated every time they talk about smacking and that it should be ok to smack a child. Child smacking is NOT OK!!! EVER. It's only for parents who don't have any self control.
It's a bit disingenuous to claim that Manawatu is like Deadwood based on AOS callouts. It would have been better had either you or the original journalist found out exactly how many incidents they were called out to resulted in an actual armed offender being confronted. Shouting "I have a gun" at the cops will ensure an AOS callout whether you have one or not. In fact, carrying a broomhandle or similar within sight of a copper could well result in a callout.
"That someone as barking mad as Jan Molenaar could amass a huge arsenal, including military weapons, is not an argument for gun control. The crazed and the criminal don't obey gun control laws."
Amen to that. The whole outcry over gun control when that fiasco happened was ridiculous. Licensed, law abiding gun owners are barely heard of - there are more around than people realise.
I don't believe that more police being armed will create more shootings of innocent bystanders. You're not suggesting NZ becomes a place where we'll see police bringing out their guns for traffic offences (like those ridiculous American cop shows you see). The suggestion that police should be armed when dealing with armed criminals is logical and rational. If people are opposed to it, then at least give police tasers - then even if an innocent bystander is hit, they won't be as injured as if hit by a bullet.
Police get a pretty hard time when they shoot a criminal, sometimes to the point of victimisation of the criminal (oh, he was only charging at the officer with an axe, etc). It's a hard job for them and they only fire when absolutely necessary. I don't know how people can't see that.
'Never take a knife to a gunfight' - completely correct.
I will never be in a position where the Police will need to point a gun at me - I therefore concur - Police Officers should be armed.
If it is impracticable to arm them all, then the absolute minimum is tasers.
the presence of these devices in volatile situations is proven to reduce the number of injuries sustained by officers and civilians.
Yeah, but, this guy I know knows someone who had an uncle who died after getting tasered(urban myth aside) - your mates uncle shouldn't have been in the situation where police were FORCED to protect themselves or others with the device.
hhmm, that turned into a rant - sorry.
My point still stands though.
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"arming the police is something well worth a referendum"
Is it really something the public should decide at this stage?
Or should it be left to police HQ to quietly modify operational deployment rules and policies as they see fit with approval of the Minister? That seems much more sensible to me.