Why do police need guns?

well we will never come to a conclusion about this. officers will always carry guns wether we like it or not. To some it will cause harm, to other it will bring happienes but just the fact that officers will shoot criminals for a crime or for not obeying the law is unbelivable. you may think that they are doing their job or saving people but are they realy? yeah the officer will come home alive, but theri job really isnt about them. its about the safty of the citisins. that is why why pay taxes. we pay them their checks for crying out loud to do their jobs and keep us safe, so if they are going to shoot some one who is in hand cuffed because they are to crazy or out of control then they should re consider getting a new job.

In Canada, many police carry tazers. This has contributed to the increased death rate from tazer fire in this country. It is not the police force as a whole, but individual officers who are trigger happy. The use of force has become excessive. More training for non lethal take down of criminals is a better option than removing arms from police.

I know im only fifteen but I’d like to have some say in this too. I agree with mandlyloo and amblessed. mandyloo-I understand that you feel its unfair that guns feel the need to just shoot away even when they really dont have to but amblessed is right in my opinion, the police should be able to leave and see their family everynight.

rubber bullets? now thats a good idea why do they “need” guns though to establish that they are the authority and if you dont do what they say, they can kill you its a scare thing most people are scared of guns, and scared of getting shot/dying and this will usually make criminalsand other people stop dead in there tracks although using guns isnt always the best thing to do guns are horrible things and yes, there are lots of alternative things they could use

I completely agree, cops should have tazers, battons, rubber bullets, that kinda thing. The only place I would allow cops to have guns would be at airports I think there needed there but shooting someone in cuffs, thats just wrong, I hope they loose their job(s) and have guns taken away from them/him. I know police go through a lot of hard physical training to become a police officer but come on, that misstreatment is just terrible. it really must stop.

I have an uncle who is a small town retired sherif’s deputy who never fired his gun once in the line of duty. I don’t know if he ever had to draw though.

It would be great if some day the police didn’t need guns but with the number of guns out there I don’t think disarming them would be possible.

I did have a cop draw on me once. I was managing a bike shop and forgetting my bag I ran back in in the middle of the night to pick it up. Thinking I was a burgler a policeman waited for me at the front door with his pistol drawn. Staring down the business end of a gun with my arms raised I told him that I worked here and told him that I had a key and knew the alarm code which didn’t seem to impress him. I showed him my ID and found some papers in the shop with my name on him which was enough to satisfy him that I was legit.

Where do you all get your information. For every criminal that isn’t armed there are ones who are. Everyone here thinks cops are trigger happy and just love to shoot people. Whats wrong with you all and let me know where you grew up so I can avoid that place. You only hear about the negative stories because the media love to show shock value stuff. Not that we shouldn’t know but what about the good. What if the police at the Ft Hood shooting didn’t have guns to take down the gun man? More people would have been killed. I’m sure though that a bobby club would have been better.

I would want my officers to be able to defend themselves, able to go home to their families at night, not come upon a burgler (which totally ignores legal gun laws) with an 357 and all they can do is ‘please don’t kill me’, ‘let’s negotiate’, or ‘hold still, I’m going to throw this lamp and hope it disables you before your bullet puts me to sleep’ - my opinion, police in America MUST be armed for their own and the public’s protection - I monitor scanners - one example was cited here, thousands on the other side could be cited - I would submit most ‘violent’ criminals, who to them your life means nothing, ARE carrying guns, laws don’t prohibit them because, flash, they ignore the law ! - my humble opinion.

I would love to see a point at which our police would not need to carry guns, like bobbys in london. Unfortunately, the genie is out of the bottle, and with guns so pervasive and easily attainable, cops do need to be armed. Howerever they should be held to a much higher standard than they are right now. They need to be held accountable for negligence and abuse. It did not take 41 shots to protect four cops from and unarmed Amadou Diallo. The fact that cops get away with this type of behavior is a travesty of justice.

I totally agree,in my eyes,some cops just take advantage of having a gun,they should only use it if they know the suspect is armed and dangerous,not if they are already cuffed and restrained,not right at all. If I could make any law,I would most likely have it say “Every police officer are to only have rubber bullet guns”,but I know that would probably never happen.

Doesn’t SWAT have rubber bullets?

If they don’t have guns then possible the criminals will end up shooting them…dumb idea…overhere if police don’t carry guns they get killed. Rubber bullets I can understand if people that are protesting etc are getting out of hand..useful tool then, but when facing a real criminal I vouch for guns to keep the police safe.

I agree with you - most criminals are not carrying guns and there are too many poilce officers getting gun happy and thinking they have the right to shoot and kill someone. Criminal or not - they have the right to live.

Rubber bullets sound like a better idea. Tazers have also been misused and have caused deaths.

They do need a weapon of some sort to protect themselves if a criminal does get violent, but I think trigger-happy cops like the one you mentioned should at least bear some responsibility for his actions. I remember some cases where upon ‘investigation’, the officers were found to have ‘done what was necessary’ or was just put back into duty after suspension during the investigation.