Resolved: The UK police force should routinely be armed with handguns.

Okay, I'll save my rebuttals for the next round and I'll use this round solely for arguments. Britain and New Zealand have adopted an uncommon style of policing. Their cops typically don't carry guns on the job. You might assume this would lead to more officer fatalities, but that's not the case. In Britain, this tradition stretches back to the 19th century. When the Metropolitan Police force was formed, people feared the military and wanted to avoid a police force that was oppressive, according to the BBC. If police officers don't have guns, then they can't use firearms against citizens. Moreover, police can't have their own guns used against them. By only allowing some officers to be armed — like a firearms unit in every police force in Britain and cops who patrol security-sensitive places like airports, for example — the logic goes, there's less of a risk of gun violence overall. A New Zealand police commissioner wrote in an editorial in 2009: I have no doubt that carrying handguns would compromise officers' ability to do their regular work, because when you carry a weapon, your primary concern is to protect that weapon. If this was balanced by a clearly demonstrable increase in personal protection, it would be a price to consider paying. But the protection offered by a firearm — particularly a pistol — is more illusory than real. This has actually worked out quite well. The UK and New Zealand fare rather well compared to other countries when it comes to violent crime. They have some of the lowest homicide rates in the world: Gun deaths are lower in Europe and Oceania overall, too: Police shootings are far less prevalent in Britain than they are in the US. In the wake of the Michael Brown shooting in August, The Economist noted that British citizens are about "100 times less likely to be shot by a police officer than Americans." Protests erupted in Ferguson, Missouri after a white police officer shot and killed Brown, an unarmed black teenager, during a routine patrol, leading to a national conversation about police brutality and use of force. What helps Britain and New Zealand pull off unarmed policing is that gun ownership rates in these countries are much lower than in the US, which means that fewer criminals are armed with guns. And police in Britain do have access to tasers to subdue suspects, which is a much safer alternative to guns. HANDGUNS IN GENERAL The first reason handguns should be outlawed for ordinary citizens is because their main purpose is simply to kill other human beings. Why would our country allow us to have the right to own an object that is deadly? Our government seems to want to protect us. For example, seatbelt laws and motorcycle helmet laws were created to protect our lives. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) enforces pollution laws to keep us safe and healthy. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) inspects food and tests drugs to make sure American citizens are not harmed by nasty food and dangerous drugs. Yet, our government allows just about anybody to own and walk around with guns. It does not appear our government really cares about our safety. If it did, handguns would be outlawed for the general public, because their only purpose is to kill people. Second, we should ban the possession of handguns, because the homicide and robbery rate in the U.S. is much greater than in Canada where there are stricter handgun laws. From 1987 to 1996, 52% of all homicides in the U.S. involved handguns while only 14% of all homicides in Canada involved handguns. Also, between 1987 and 1996, firearm homicide rates increased by 2% in the United States but decreased by 7% in Canada. Furthermore, handgun homicide rates in the U.S. are 15.3 times higher than in Canada. Finally, firearm robbery rates in the U.S. are 3.5 times higher than in Canada. Obviously, homicide and robbery rates involving handguns are higher in the U.S. where handgun laws are not as strict as in Canada. Our high crime rate is another reason handguns should be banned. The third and maybe biggest reason that citizens should not possess handguns is because handguns can easily get into the hands of little children. For example, about one and a half years ago, a six year old boy in the Beecher School District took a loaded handgun to school and shot and killed a six year old female classmate. This young boy may not have understood the concept of death. However, because he had easy access to a handgun, he was able to hurt someone he didn't like. This has happened all over the country, like at Columbine High School and many other places. It is sad that this happens, but we shouldn't be shocked. After all, the law allows us to own guns, guns made simply to kill. "More guns, more mass shootings, coincidence?" I tried to keep my arguments short in order to keep this a fair debate. Rebuttals should be posted in the final round and hopefully my opponent has time now to make this a fair debate. Sourceshttp://tinyurl.com...http://tinyurl.com...http://tinyurl.com...http://tinyurl.com...http://tinyurl.com...http://tinyurl.com...