It is unfair to make the comparisons that your are making. There is a quantum difference in the "rules" of use between the military and police. There are specific rules for the military and when those rules are in place action can be taken. And that action is shoot to kill.
It is not the same with police. Also all of the stories about "police error" never have all the information. We never hear about how long this situation went on and what the police did prior to shooting nor what the victim did or did not do. If the deceased had followed the instructions of the police there would have been no shooting. Police firing their weapon is in the same category of the country putting its military in harms way, last resort.

Quote Originally Posted by ian 2411 View Post
One other point I would like to make about the British police carrying firearms; and it is that in the short time they have done so they have carried out far too many mistakes. There have been several times that more than one officer has fired at a supposed gunman, and when it has been one firearms expert there has been more than one shot fired, proving yet again overkill, and trigger happy police.

I was out in Belfast with the Special Forces; we were carrying at the time Belgian 7.62 FNs. They were more powerful than most assault rifles that the armies of the world have now. If you could see and aim that far with the naked eye, this weapon had the killing range of 5 miles. Put 6 people 6feet apart and with one shot you would kill them all, it would go through a half inch of steel at 100 yards and 6 feet of packed sand. I like others in my section and battalion kept my rifle loaded but ready at a seconds notice. We had no need to ask for permission to shoot, it was written in black on a yellow card for us to read, and it was in our pockets at all times. I cannot remember a time when we abused the card and fired the weapon without being fired at first, and the reason was, that weapon was part of us, we trained with it and we slept with it, and we respected the firepower we held in our hands.

The police however don’t have this luxury, and are a very unstable to be using a firearm, unless you have a certain mentality in the army, you will not get to hold a position of responsibility with a firearm.

Regards ian2411