And there is a further and even more fundamental problem, in my view. It is a matter of pride for the British that their police are not, except for Northern Ireland, armed. But having taken these cases into consideration, it seems to me all too evident that this has led to a mentality where to call in the armed police means that you are supposed to kill someone; that these men have been trained to kill their quarry, and that they do not understand any other use for their guns.

That's a good point. I'm not particularly comfortable with police carrying guns, but as rachel_w and I discussed in our debate about guns last November, there's something to be said for being familiar with guns so that they are seen symbolically more as tools than as [criminal] weapons.