Is it time to consider disarming American police ?

[eppur_se_muova]

16. Interesting, thanks. I wouldn't be at all surprised if the marketing of the Colt revolver ...

had a lot to do with it. Of course, we were a frontier society for a long time, and every frontier household armed itself against native tribes and their European allies, so maybe it was inevitable that police in Western states, at least, would be armed. Too bad the idea took hold so strong in the East as well, and no one's tried to rethink the situation as society has evolved beyond the need for constant armed vigilance.

To be fair, it should be noted that the British are unique in Europe. All other police forces are armed. It probably depends in part on whether the police in recent history have been a force for keeping the rulers in power, or a force for civil order (not usually the same thing). When the police are an offshoot of the military, it's usually the former; we seem to be heading in that direction against out own history.