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This just proves LE are under payed even in the UK. (Yes I’m aware of conversion)
Apparently England doesn’t really like to pay their LEOs
Nor does the U.S.
Do I get a take home MP7 and car?
That is a laughable amount they get paid. But on the plus side, they MP7s
Vancouver Police probationary constables almost double that. (exchange rate factored in)
$37,631.46CAD = UK Armed Officer
$68,443CAD = VPD Probationary Constable (£39560.08)
“Firearms assessment”? LMFAO. Since they’ve outlawed firearms for the commoner, I don’t expect much from that assessment.
Firearms aren’t “outlawed for the commoner” just not as readily available and harder to get a license for.
Except pistols…joe civvie can’t get one of them
Jim,
Puh-leeeeeze….don’t bring your gun control mantra here as you attempt to manipulate and twist the truth.
So tell me….how many gun stores can I visit on my trip to London (England not Ontario) ?
There’s plenty. You can have pretty much anything if you have the correct license minus handguns. If I want a 7.62 I’ll get a 7.62. Auto are out, single shot only and you cant carry unless moving from range to rifle safe but yeah, it’s nothing like you assume it is.
“pretty much anything’
“correct license”
“minus handguns”
“Auto are out, single shot only”
Dude, you guys can’t have “pretty much anything” – you are a hair from not having anything at all
exactly. according the laws they can apply for get a gunlizense and in reality they do get denied in a most disgusting way and if they make it and get the lizense then the arms they can legally buy are a joke compared to that what you can buy with no lizense whatsowever in the free states in usa.
slaves do not have guns, free humans can have guns if they want to.
cheers to uk, schweinebacke!
You’re trying to argue that your laws “aren’t that bad” and it makes sense to you because you don’t have our frame of reference.
As I sit typing this, I can reach at least half a dozen handguns, two semi-auto rifles, a pump-action shotgun, two firearm mufflers, and a machinegun all without getting up or moving my chair. Of all the firearms I mentioned, only one of them is even close to legal in the United Kingdom.
As it stands, most of the firearms I have within arms reach are also entirely legal for me to load up and carry on or about my person out in public — whether or not it would be a good idea, it’s still legal.
Additionally, if someone were to break into my home and present an immediate threat to myself or my family, I could legally use any of them in self-defense. In the United Kingdom, armed self-defense has been effectively outlawed.
TLDR: If you think the laws in the U.K. aren’t that bad, you should spend some time in a freer country in order to get a more realistic frame of reference.
American gunowners bristle at any commentary by non-US citizens regarding guns and gun laws. Yet that doesn’t stop us from commenting, often ignorantly, about theirs…
Matt, you are spot on! I’m a Brit, was brought up around guns, shot practical pistol competitively and spent 25 of my 33 years as a London cop as both a firearms instructor and full time SFO (SWAT) operator. I’ve run SWAT training in the US and believe I have a reasonable understanding of your constitution and your right to bear arms. Would I like to still be able to shoot pistol? Yes do I think our gun laws are too strict? Yes but the civilian ownership of firearms has never been part of our heritage or a right and when we were forging out our country it was with flint spears and wooden clubs. I love visiting the States and have many friends there but there are things that I prefer about my culture to yours and I’m proud to be a Brit. Despite our shared history, our culture and that of many, many other countries around the world, is totally different to yours. You’re proud of your rights and your country and that’s great but you’re right, ripping the shit out of other cultures because they’re different to yours is just disrespectful and ignorant.
We are better though, our per capita GDP is 12% over that of GB.
Congratulations.
Always a pleasure hearing from you Tony. Picked up a copy of your book the other day.
Thanks mate, I hope you enjoy it! Bell me if you need a translation….two nations divided by a common language! 🙂
“[I] believe I have a reasonable understanding of your constitution and your right to bear arms. Would I like to still be able to shoot pistol? Yes do I think our gun laws are too strict? Yes but the civilian ownership of firearms has never been part of our heritage or a right…”
We have a shared legal tradition dating back over 800 years. The American right to arms is a direct product of our shared history. The relatively broad right right of British subject to keep and bear arms was officially recognized as part of that legal tradition for nearly a century before the dawn of the American Revolution.
By comparison, the notion that British subjects have no right to bear arms is a relatively modern development, on the close order of only a century old.
If you are comfortable with the current trend in firearm rights in your country, then by all means keep doing what you always have done. On the other hand, if you want things to change the starting point is to accept that the right to keep and bear arms is a natural right of all, not just of Americans. The choice is entirely yours, and I hope that you never have reason to regret it in any way.
HSR47, you are right, we do have a shared legal tradition but two very different cultures.
Firearms legislation in our country is, as you pointed out, relatively new, starting really in the early 1900’s and even when I started shooting in the 1970’s the laws were far more relaxed than they are now but like traffic legislation and other laws they develop constantly, normally to plug a weakness, perceived or otherwise, in existing laws.
In 1987, when a legal gun owner went nuts and killed 16 with a semi-auto AK, a .30 carbine and a 9mm Berretta, legislation was brought in to ban all but .22 semi-auto rifles. Actually most of his victims were killed by the Berretta but pistols remained legal for another decade before another legal gun owner walked into a primary school with two 9mm and one .357 handgun and killed a teacher and 15 of her 5 year old pupils.
We have had only one similar shooting since then, when in 2010 another firearms certificate holder killed 12 using a shotgun and a .22 rifle. This time common sense prevailed and there were no changes to legislation. I’m not sure how many active shooter situations you’ve had since 1987?
Of course none of these changes to the the law has had any effect on the regular criminal use of firearms which has steadily increased but which still remains ludicrously low in comparison with other countries (in particular your own) and as you would expect, the vast majority of its victims are happily other criminals.
Less than 10% of police officers here are trained in the use of firearms, so if we won’t even arm those tasked with protecting the public we’re certainly not going to let the masses own guns for their own protection. Its one way that us arrogant Brits can still turn our noses up to the rest of the world and point out how civilised we are in comparison.
Most people on this site will therefore conclude that we are a weak nation oppressed by a tyrannical government but this is where our different culture and national characteristics kicks in because the reality is…the great British public has never had any real interest in firearms and as gun crime has no real impact on their lives, they really don’t give a f*@k!
You don’t get an empire the size of our old one by being pussies. We can be a violent race (Ask the Europians what they think of our football supporters) but with no guns, differences are normally dealt with by a fist or a forehead or increasingly, unfortunately, knives.
Shooting has always been and remains a minority sport. The UK is geographically tiny (You’re never further than 70 miles from the sea) and hugely populated. We don’t have the wilderness areas that you do which means that hunting takes place on private land and therefore isn’t an everyman sport. Ranges are few and shooters are seen by the rest of the population as weirdos who should be kept to a minimum.
Most of all though, Brits are cynical, laid back creatures who role with the punches and who don’t get paranoid and excitable. One day, god forbid, we may have reason to regret our lack of guns but if it all goes tits up we will undoubtably keep a stiff upper lip, ‘remain calm and drink tea’ and wait for you lot to come and rescue us. 😉
An hourlt shift manager at a McD in London makes 10GBP/hr
Going on 40hr wks @ 52wks/yr, a copper would only make about 0.40GBP/hour more than the person telling someone to flip patties and scrub toilets.
Just like in much of the US…especially the south…where cops start at $12-15/hr.
Not sure about the U.K. but in the U.S. only the copper would have insurance and a retirement.
Alas, we don’t pay insane VATS and other taxes… in comparison to UK (and even Canada!)
They be trolln’ showing off that MP7, aren’t they lucky to get even billy clubs over there still? Or is “firearms officer” their version of SWAT?
MOD PLOD tend to be armed, these aren’t to cops you see on the street, these guys do MOD installations from Barracks to Nuclear Sites.
Ahh well good to hear fair photo usage then. Now I’m curious who made em put the pepper spray right in the way of their weapon shouldering zone.
‘Fashion’…
All MOD police officers are trained to carry firearms and Taser. Over 90% are armed when on duty. Semi Automatic MP7 are standard issue but the Special Escort Group (escort nuclear weapons convoys) and a few others carry Diemaco C8 (actually C7 SFW or shorter barreled) pattern carbines.
Firearms assesment is basically do you have the grip strength to cock a weapon properly (used to be done on a SIG pistol not sure now) and are you prepared to shoot somebody (a surprising/pleasing number of people are not).
Not a SWAT team, they are technically authorised firearms officers (AFO for short who are trained to a nationally agreed standard). They do have better trained units up to SFO (Specialist Firearms Officer ie more skills, equipment and training). Highest standard is CTSFO which includes much higher shooting standards, fast roping, explosive method of entry and CRBN.
They are one of 3 fully armed police forces in the UK (the others are the Civil Nuclear Constabulary and the Police Service of Northern Ireland). Pay is standard for police officers in England and Wales raises to the maximum farely quickly, it used to start higher but rise slower.
Not a bad job but distinctly not traditional police work, they are outside of specialist teams essentially armed security guards who have police powers in order to carry firearms and have the ability to detain people by arresting them. Last year the 8 person Port of Dover police made more arrests than the entire MDP.
I’ve always found the look of the U.K. firearms officers to be a good balance of show of force and public servant professionalism. Heavily armed (MP7, MP5, G36, etc) plus gear and kit, but usually in a collared shirt and tie. And certainly less of the mall ninja camo and shemagh nonsense that’s become popular American SWAT and Emergency Services units.
Those are two different things
The UK also has SWAT ninjas, they are just less used as ours
ANIBAL P not sure you’re actually right with your last comment. When I retired from the Met in 2008 we had six full time SFO (SWAT) teams who were averaging between 800 and 1000 operations a year. That’s a lot even by US standards. You have to realise that with the majority of officer being unarmed, any pre planned, intelligence led operations involving firearms, that elsewhere in the world would have been handled by lesser trained detectives and patrol officers, were dealt with by a small number of highly trained specialist. I personally believe that all UK officers should be armed but as it stands the policy is to remain a predominantly unarmed police force supported armed specialists.
All I need is an unmarked and a shotgun and I can sort put your paki problems
No, thanks. We have enough rascists of our own.
How’s that delusion working for you???
You’re saying that I’m deluded in thinking ‘we have enough rascists of our own’, and therefore the UK needs more rascists?
Sort out your own problems and suck start that gauge for me, would you?
Very kind of you to say when someone “offers” a helping hand. You cuckold much??
But can you fire two guns while stomping through the air and screaming ahh?
What is it about most Americans that totally assume the rest of the English speaking Western World want to be just like you? Got news for you folks we want all of about 15% of what you have boys, the rest you can keep cause we don’t need or wan’t it! We are mostly way too cool in our own right than wish to become Americlones!!
Spoken like every girl thats ever been thrown out of a mans house.
“I didn’t want to be with you anywots!”
A “mans house” ??? That’s laughable, I would gladly wear the Girl tag and be thrown out of a man’s house if it were a South African, a Rhodesian, a New Zealander or an Australian but not a Yank!
“A Rhodesian”
So are you saying that you think it’s time to slot floppies?
Me thinks the gentleman doth protest too much.
Great photo, too bad that H&K will never be loaded
And here I’ve been looking for some form of LE exchange program….