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Comment by manfredo | Hacker News Reader

This doesn't strike me as a uniquely American thing. When I visited Paris, I saw lots of pairs of soldiers or police patrolling streets and subway stations carrying FAMAS rifles. You don't even see that in the US (most foot patrols only carry pistols, most officers in cars leave their carbines in the vehicle unless they need it).

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Sorry, little digression here: It was probably in response to the Terror attacks, a stuff called "operation sentinelle"[0]. They still patrol near strategic points now and then, but you see them less often now.

And while military training is not police training, there was some controversy and some generals said it was a huge mistake, as the money spend on this operation (~1M$) would have shown better effect if spent on intelligence. Also, to afford the men, military had to cut monthly training. A friend of mine said that physical exercise/conditionment was divided by 2, while tactical and shooting by 4, but he really hated this operation so take it with a grain of salt.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Op%C3%A9ration_Sentinelle

I was backpacking around Europe in 1999 and I saw people in military uniforms with military style weapons patrolling the metro stations in Paris. It made me uneasy.

But unlike certain other countries they usually don't use them.

I grew up with a real combat rifle in the house, not a bump-stocked semi AR that looks scary. Complete with ammo. Same in a number of other houses in the neighborhood.

Never had reason to worry.

But I guess it might seem scary to Americans.

The individuals walking around with those weapons in France do not have the same intentions as the US counter parts. In the US those armed like this will size up every person walking by them, in France they are there patrolling but in a very passive manner. In such a way that made me feel like they were weak in France, but I prefer to not have the flight response when feeling the gaze of someone who is heavily armed.

I saw plenty of police in south Florida (Ft Lauderdale/Holywood area) walking around with M4-style rifles and what looked like flak jackets five years ago. I never bothered to be around them long enough to figure out what they were doing but their grouping (only a few officers at a time) and frequency seems to suggest it is a common occurrence here.

I think this is typically in relation to threats of terrorist attacks - it's not for ordinary criminals.

Given they are actually not allowed to use their gun when a large terrorist attack is going on right in front of them [0], it could be argued their role is mostly public relations.

[0] page 53 of this official report: http://www.assemblee-nationale.fr/14/pdf/rap-enq/r3922-t1.pd... (gist: neither the head of police nor the army allowed the soldiers to open fire, arguably for good reasons, but then what's the point?)

What was the time you visited Paris? I visited London last year and I have seen a quite some police carry MP5 around Big Ben and area (I was also in between attacks in there). On the other hand in Amsterdam where I live I have only seen police with machine guns after attacks in Paris.

From what I have seen UK police usually carry no guns like outside London. In the Netherlands usually pistols. In Poland where I am from I have not seen Policeman with machine gun only military and special occasions.

Shooting by the Police happen but it is like one in 3 maybe 5 years. Where in states it seems from my point of view every month at least (never been in states so it might be skewed).

In Paris, the cops don't get to use the FAMAS, but German (I think) assault rifles. But in the end it's still the same. And there are not a lot of cops with rifle, it's usually reserved when they are a lot of people in the same place (protest, music festival...). Most of the cops in France will have just a handgun and even then, not all of them.

I saw multiple US police officers with M4s [1] at the Warriors game this week. I feel like its becoming increasingly common at public events here.

[1]: I think they were m4s but they could be another similar looking rifle, I'm no expert.

Colt makes a civilian/law enforcement M4, the LE6920. It probably was an M4.

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