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> In many European countries, police officers are only minimally armed (just a handgun, used only in rare circumstances). And yet when I've been in Europe I've
by zeveb 11y ago
> In many European countries, police officers are only minimally armed (just a handgun, used only in rare circumstances).
And yet when I've been in Europe I've seen plenty of police and/or paramilitary units carrying submachine guns, something I never saw here in the U.S. even after 11 September.
- TallGuyShort 11y agoCurious, as I haven't been to Europe - were these at border posts? Public transit hubs? Anything else?
- zeveb 11y agoI've seen them walking around in train stations, airports, public squares and on the sidewalk. Remarkable from an American perspective.
- anu_gupta 11y agoI guess it's almost as remarkable as the number of people in the USA who actually get killed by police.
- oldmanjay 11y agoDo you feel like this was a useful comment? If so, to what end?
- zeveb 11y agoI really gotta ask: why was this downvoted? It's composed of purely factual statements in answer to a question.
- pjc50 11y agoYeah, transport hubs especially airports but also some railway stations will often have conspicuously armed police patrolling. And high-profile government buildings. The UK gun of choice for this is the distinctive HK MP5 submachine gun. Conversely if you want to see the use of the AR-15 in public artwork, you should go to Northern Ireland. In Switzerland I once saw a conscript get on a train and put his rifle in the luggage rack exactly as if it were an umbrella. But Switzerland is different (guns are mandatory, ammunition heavily controlled, the people are the "militia" and support the government, and the whole country is a mountain fortress).
- dagw 11y agoLast summer when I was in Switzerland I got on train with at least 50 conscripts, all casually on their way home with a beer in one hand and an assalt rifle in the the other. Kind of a weird sight.
- MagnumOpus 11y agoAt a guess, you saw them at the airport, the largest central rail station or the parliament building - which are just about the only places they carry automatic weapons. A tourist will visit all of these points, the average local - especially one that doesn't live in the capital - might go years without seeing one.
- mikestew 11y agosomething I never saw here in the U.S. even after 11 September. They were there, mainly at the airport. Not in recent years, and probably not very long after 2001, but I certainly saw armed military at the U. S. airports for six months or more after 09/11/01.