Indeed. Only 5% of police officers in England and Wales are Authorised Firearms Officers, and AFOs are only issued arms for specific operations. I was surprise

Indeed. Only 5% of police officers in England and Wales are Authorised Firearms Officers, and AFOs are only issued arms for specific operations. I was surprised that there were only 10 incidents where police shot their firearms in year ended March 2017 (although multiple officers might use their guns in a single incident). I guess some of the use of firearms is deterrence - a lot of police wandering round waving submachine guns at airports and stations when the terrorism threat is high. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/police-use-of-firearms-statistics-england-and-wales-april-2016-to-march-2017/police-use-of-firearms-statistics-england-and-wales-april-2016-to-march-2017 https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/police-use-of-fir...