Question: Why is it against the law for police in Wales to have a firearm, whilst in America, everyone over 18 can have a gun?

Lauren Burns answered on 25 Jun 2018:

A very topical question! I guess the centre of the reasoning is societal differences. The UK and our laws as we know it can be traced back to when the Magna Carter was signed in 1215 AD. What we now know as America was effectively formed when they declared Independence from the British Empire when they signed the Declaration of Independence in 1776. Without armed rebellion, America wouldn’t exist and the idea that an armed population both represents and secures freedom is core within American psyche and history. Fast forward to the 21st century, so much of the population has guns that the chances that an American police officer is likely to apprehend an armed suspect is staggeringly high, while in Britain, we can afford the luxury of only giving firearms to those highly trained in their use. So, we do have armed police, but we have a very low number of fatal shootings, in comparison to the US, due to the highly trained nature of our armed police force and the fact that an everyday policeman is highly unlikely to come across an armed member of the public.