Within the United States, every police officer carries and is trained in the usage of firearms. Also, we have much less strict rules about gun usage and ownership of guns. Conversely, In Britain, only special police squads use guns and gun ownership is strictly regulated. This paper will attempt to compare and contrast gun usage in both societies and, hopefully, give a glimpse of the social implications of gun policies in both countries. While in Great Britain, I had the chance to tour the West Bar Police Station and see from a first hand perspective how the British law enforcement system works differently than our own. Most of the officers I spoke to did not carry firearms and were quite surprised and even amused at the fact that most police officers carry fire arms. The general consensus seemed to be that they felt that they simply did not need guns for most situations, that the authority of the Bobby was enough.For situations that involved guns, the firearm squad was employed. This squad consisted of two men, who were specially trained to wield firearms. In order specialize in this field they had to undergo extensive physical, psychological, and mental tests to prove that they were capable to wield these weapons. They were very proud of their status as gun carriers in Great Britain, which is extremely rare. The South Yorkshire police employs 3,240 police officers and has only these two individuals to wield firearms. The officers were very knowledgeable about the guns they displayed and the techniques involved in combat situations. They were very friendly and informative about the contrasting British system, and patient with the many questions students had. As we all were used to the American system, we were all quite surprised about how different it was. However several times they aimed, accidentally, the guns at the students watching them. Even though all involved in the interchange knew that the guns were not loaded, some Ameri...
