If anyone is curious about numbers. In 2012, out of 134,100 police officers in England and Wales [1], 6,756 are authorised to carry firearms [2]. So roughly 5%.

If anyone is curious about numbers. In 2012, out of 134,100 police officers in England and Wales [1], 6,756 are authorised to carry firearms [2]. So roughly 5%. Even if a police officer is authorised to carry a firearm, they must be authorised to used it. The same document states that firearms were authorised in 12,550 times in that year, and only used 5 times. [1] https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/police-workforce-england-and-wales-31-march-2013/police-workforce-england-and-wales-31-march-2013 https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/police-workforce-... [2] https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/statistics-on-police-use-of-firearms-in-england-and-wales-2011-2012 https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/statistics-on-pol...