Politics: Stop and Freeze

England, unlike the USA, is not a country with gun culture. Citizens do not have the right to bear arms and only a small percentage of the police force are actually allowed to carry guns in the line of duty.

This unfortunately does not mean that there are no guns out there on the streets. In the last few weeks there have been three police-women shot in the line of duty. One of the brave ladies was killed. The fact is that there are quite a few firearms offenses every year here. Criminals do have guns and they are not afraid to use them. There have been drive-by shootings, drug and gang related shootings, and shootings in the course of robberies and burglaries. Even the police themselves, not being used to carrying and using firearms, have managed to shoot and kill a number of unarmed suspects.

I am not a big fan of guns. They scare me. The potential for tragedy is enormous, and the outcome is quite often final. People get shot by accident every day. Children play with guns left carelessly available to them by uninformed and negligent parents. Domestic arguments escalate into unintended killings.

Guns are dangerous. People are even more dangerous. There are, in England, killings every day. People are stabbed, beaten, strangled, etc..and a few are shot. But the number of people shot is increasing.

The two policemen in this photo have just received an award for bravery. One of them is holding a mace that they took from a violent suspect. They did this without a gun between them. They fought with this lunatic until they overpowered him. Brave lads indeed. What chance would a policewoman have had?

One in eight british bobbies suffer head injuries every year. Without firearms to deter violence, and in the absence of sufficient numbers of colleagues by their sides, they are quite often called upon to engage in violent struggles with aggressive offenders. Why should this be so?

In the USA when you hear the magic words, "Stop or I will shoot!!", you stop. Another magic phrase is "Freeze Motherfucker!!". You freeze, you stop, and that is that.

Let's arm our policemen and women. Let's give them the power to command offenders to Stop and Freeze, without having to resort to violent struggles in which they are themselves in danger of being overpowered.

I am not a right-wing fanatic. In fact I lean more to the left than to the right. But it is, I believe, in the interest of society, that the police should exist and be strong. This world would not be worth living in without them. So let's support them, defend them, and keep a close eye on them.