On Fri, 7 Jan 2011 15:51:20 +0000, bob wrote

If its a choice of one civilian dying because of a mistake or dozens dying
because of a bomb the choice is a no brainer. Anyway , I don't see what
your problem is - almost every other country in the world has armed police
as the norm, even fluffy liberal sweden.

While there are plenty of armed police in many countries, because
police being armed in the UK is not normal, the perception when there
are armed police about in the UK is that they are more likely than
your average Swedish beat bobby to use those arms. Given that the
presence is abnormal, the police command structure is likely to be
under abnormal load, conditions which would make mistakes far more
likely.

Isn't that a good reason for the police to be armed as part of their day to
day duties?