Policing is a dangerous job. Police officers should be allowed to arm themselves  There is a global increase in gun ownership, even in countries which did not traditionally think of themselves as having a large criminal gun culture. Presently 1.8 million legally held guns are accounted for in the UK. [1] This increases the risks to frontline police officers of being the victims of gun crime. Police officers should have a right to protect themselves. Fewer officers may die on duty if they were better able to protect themselves. Arming the police is essentially a matter of self-defence rather than being actively involved in regular firearms incidents. This is shown by the fact that most routinely armed police never fire their weapon on active duty in their whole career. [2] If being a police officer is a safer job, then there will be a larger applicant pool to choose from, and thus better, more qualified police forces.  [1] Legal Community Against Violence, ‘Large Capacity Ammunition Magazines’, 2011,  , accessed 20 September 2011  [2] BBC News, ‘Q&amp;A: Armed police in the UK’, 8 June 2010,  , accessed 20 September 2011