List of police firearms in the United Kingdom

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For general information about British police firearms use, see Police use of firearms in the United Kingdom.

British police officers are not routinely armed.[1] Instead, they rely on specially trained Authorised Firearms Officers (AFO) to attend incidents where firearms might be needed. Specialist Firearms Officers are usually trained to a higher standard than an AFO, because they are likely to be the officers required to enter besieged premises. The vast majority of firearms used by the British Police are semi-automatic. Police use of force regarding firearms is governed by the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO).

Weapons used by Home Office police forces

Firearms used by police officers vary between police forces in the UK. The Chief Constable and Police authority of each force decides the number of firearms officers and type of police firearms available.

Firearms issued to Authorised Firearms Officers include:

Pistols

Carbines, Shotguns, and Rifles

File:Police.gun.1.london.arp.jpg
An officer of Metropolitan Police Service guarding Downing Street with a MP5SFA3 semi-automatic carbine. It has an EOTech 512 holographic sight attached.

and (553 variant) (used by West Yorkshire Police and Staffordshire Police)[10][11]

Northern Ireland

Unlike territorial police forces in England, Scotland and Wales, the Police Service of Northern Ireland routinely arms all of its officers.[20] Officers are issued the Glock 17 pistol, phasing out the now obsolete Ruger Speed-Six revolvers previously issued. Historically, long arms were routinely issued: either the Sterling submachine gun and later Heckler & Koch MP5, or rifles such as Heckler & Koch G3s, G36 K and C variants, or HK33s. The latter replaced Ruger AC-556 select fire rifles. Long arms are still routinely carried in areas of higher threat such as North and West Belfast or various border areas.

Weapons used by non-Home Office police forces

File:Female with SA80A2.jpg
A Ministry of Defence Police Officer on duty with an SA80 L85A2

British Transport Police

Most British Transport Police officers are unarmed. British Transport police AFOs carry:

Belfast Harbour Police

Belfast Harbour Police officers carry Ruger 9mm revolvers identical to those carried by the Royal Ulster Constabulary prior to 2001, when on duty.

Belfast International Airport Constabulary

Officers of the Belfast International Airport Constabulary carry Ruger 9mm revolvers whilst on duty. Officers are also authorised to carry Heckler & Koch MP5 support weapons, similar to those used by the Police Service of Northern Ireland prior to the adoption of the Heckler & Koch G36.

Civil Nuclear Constabulary

Civil Nuclear Constabulary (CNC) officers are routinely armed while carrying out their duties. CNC officers carry:

CNC officers also operate the armament on board the ships of the company Pacific Nuclear Transport Limited,[22] which specialise in transporting spent nuclear fuel and reprocessed uranium on behalf of the British Nuclear Fuels organisation.[23] Such ships have an on-board escort of armed police.[24][25] The Civil Nuclear Constabulary use a range of heavier weapons up to automatic cannon of 30mm calibre deployed on the ships.

Historic firearms

In the past, police have been issued:

References

  1. ↑ [1] Archived 20 February 2009 at the Wayback Machine
  2. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  3. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  4. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  5. ↑ [2] Archived 27 October 2011 at the Wayback Machine
  6. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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  8. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  9. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  10. ↑ [3] Archived 1 October 2009 at the Wayback Machine
  11. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  12. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  13. ↑ http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2015/jun/29/scotland-yard-creates-sas-style-unit-to-counter-threat-of-terrorist-gun-attack
  14. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  15. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  16. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  17. ↑ http://soldiersystems.net/2015/09/13/london-metro-police-on-patrol-with-sig-sauer-mcx/
  18. ↑ http://soldiersystems.net/2015/09/28/london-met-sig-mcx/
  19. ↑ http://www.alamy.com/stock-photo-glasgow-uk-22nd-sep-2014-specialist-firearms-officers-from-the-tactical-73637653.html/
  20. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  21. ↑ 21.0 21.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  22. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  23. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  24. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  25. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  26. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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