France Considers The Unthinkable: Arming Local Police Officers

By Micah Rate

France’s government has an unusual policy when it comes to arming its police officers. For officers at the local level, the government prohibits them from carrying, though they are the ones risking their lives to fight rising crime. The good news is, however, this bizarre policy may be coming to an end.

Quartz is now reporting that French officials are considering arming local police officers due to the threats of terrorism, rising crime, and because the mental health of France’s officers is a particular area of concern.

Earlier this year, French interior minister Gérard Collomb launched a parliamentary commission (link in French) to find ways to support security forces and municipal police, who are overwhelmed with the rise in crime (link in French) and increasingly suffer from mental health problems (link in French) linked to the danger associated with their jobs. The members of parliament in charge of the commission, Jean-Michel Fauvergue and Alice Thourot, released a report yesterday with more than 70 recommendations, of which the most eye-catching is to make firearms mandatory for all municipal police officers.

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The proposal to arm all local cops is a significant departure for France. The …Read the Rest

Source:: Bearing Arms