Why are British police being asked if they would be willing to carry guns?

[2aguy]

But....I thought they banned and confiscated guns ......so gun crime no longer exists in Britain......so, why would they want to know if their police would be willing to carry guns? What would the point be...right?

Police to be asked if they want to carry guns

“Policing has changed significantly over recent years, not just around the types of crime we are dealing with and greater use of technology, but also the threat, harm and risk to the public and to officers themselves.

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Mr Donald said: “Undoubtedly the increase is down to the world we now live in. Recent crime statistics show that knife crime has increased by 20% and gun crime by 23%. In addition, this period covers the Westminster terror attack, and after that we had Manchester and then London Bridge with multiple loss of life to innocent members of the public."

 

[Fenton Lum]

As an american I understand how Britain goes is up to the Brits. Unless of course we're going to take them over too.