Being from the US where every cop is armed everywhere I just assumed every country had armed cops, silly me. I feel very safe with having armed police and would feel very UNsafe if they weren't, but it's always been like that here. We even have security gaurds for businesses and clubs that are armed. I think polce need to be armed for their own safety. The majority of crimes being committed here the states are by armed criminals. The cops need to protect themselves. In my city (St. Louis) there's not a day that goes by that you don't hear of someone being shot, stabbed, a robbery or a rape and it's become so routine to me that I don't even flinch anymore when there's news of a shooting or other crime. scarey huh? Thats just here in the US I don't know what other countries are like.