Scotland - Police routinely armed

[Soapy Sam]

Dogs, perhaps. The most lethal animals around are apt to be bulls or horses and anyone shooting them is apt to be sued. We ate all the bears and tigers millennia ago.

The point is that there are far more licensed and legal guns per head of population in rural areas than in cities, because most farmers have a shotgun and the shooting fraternity are generally country dwellers, so an offense involving a firearm- even just in the sense that guns are present in the building- is more likely. You have to offset that against the fact that population density on average is vastly lower than in town.
The total number of incidents would be laughed at by any American city cop- and many rural ones.

 

[Information Analyst]

Just curious. In rural areas would police be more likely to have to deal with dangerous animals? In the U.S., police might need to respond to calls about bears and mountain lions in some areas, and vicious dogs almost anywhere.

Apart from the occasional angry - but rabies-free - squirrel, it's not really an issue in the UK. Even a Scottish wildcat is more likely to slip away than attack anyone.

 

[Last of the Fraggles]

Apart from the occasional angry - but rabies-free - squirrel, it's not really an issue in the UK. Even a Scottish wildcat is more likely to slip away than attack anyone.

Only until an independent Scotland can train them up as a cross-border insurgency.

 

[commandlinegamer]

Apart from the occasional angry - but rabies-free - squirrel, it's not really an issue in the UK. Even a Scottish wildcat is more likely to slip away than attack anyone.

There are wild boar up here, presumably because they're in captivity.

 

[Craig B]

There are wild boar up here, presumably because they're in captivity.

Just wait till we reintroduce wolves!

 

[Duffy Moon]

There are wild boar up here, presumably because they're in captivity.

Wild? They're absolutely livid!

 

[commandlinegamer]

There are wild boar up here, presumably because they're in captivity.

Oh, and I forgot we've also got beavers north of the border; I've heard they can be quite dangerous.

 

[Craig B]

Oh, and I forgot we've also got beavers north of the border; I've heard they can be quite dangerous.

In the place where I was living recently in Italy bears, wolves and wild boar are common. But the local beat cop has never shot a boar with his pistol. He does hunt them, but uses an impressive rifle for the purpose.

When a young bear turned up in the local graveyard the Corpo forestale dello Stato arrived and shot it with a tranquilliser dart. It was then relocated to a nearby National Park.

 

[Soapy Sam]

Trying to shoot a wild boar with a typical police issue pistol sounds like a good way to get gored- and as you know, shooting bears is restricted to certain parts of Glasgow.

 

[Craig B]

Trying to shoot a wild boar with a typical police issue pistol sounds like a good way to get gored- and as you know, shooting bears is restricted to certain parts of Glasgow.

They shoot back.

 

[Information Analyst]

An interesting development....

BBC News: Move to cover up Police Scotland firearms

"Firearms carried by police officers in Scotland are expected to be covered with a new type of holster to make them less visible to the public.

Senior Police Scotland officers said trained officers should still be able to routinely carry the weapons, but their visibility should be reduced."