Cycling UK Forum

............ or other public place ........................

That is interesting too.
It doesn't have to be on the actual roadway.

thirdcrank wrote:The thirdcrank legal team has been working hard to solve this and the answer is to be found in the actual legislation. The way it was laid out in my link was wrong, in a bizarre way. (I wonder if it's some sort of deliberate mistake, set to see if law students are as diligent in their reading of the course materials as you were. )

I am again obliged to you, Sir, and to your able team of assistants.

thirdcrank wrote:No armed backup in those days to help out, either

For some reason that reminded me of an incident I witnessed whilst going about my lawful occasion on the northbound A27 near Lewes a few years ago. In a layby on the other side of the road was a Merc saloon sandwiched between two unmarked BMWs, one of which had the behind-grille disco lights on.

The driver of the Merc was standing alongside his car, praying to the roof of it. On the opposite side of his car stood a copper pointing a handgun at his head. Perhaps three or four yards behind Merc Man stood another copper, pointing a handgun straight at Merc Man's back.

I was tempted to hang about and see how long it took for one or other Action Man to realise that if he fired and was a reasonable shot, he could bag two for the price of one, but logic dictated that I be on my way PDQ ...

Modern police firearms training involves a lot of emphasis on being aware of everything in a line-of-fire. I'd not suggest it's always effective, as the figures for police officers killed by police firearms in some countries show, but the "normally unarmed" police system in this country does mean that there are fewer guns being fired.

Back in "cattle engine" days, a cartoon was published in Punch magazine, illustrating the problem:

A burly Victorian bobby was shown grappling with a weazly crook who was pointing a gun at his head to resist arrest. The caption was along the lines:

Bar 'is Colt, there's nowt alarming,
To a man in Burglar Jim.
But if us you wont be arming,
How about disarming 'im?

thirdcrank wrote:A burly Victorian bobby was shown grappling with a weazly crook who was pointing a gun at his head to resist arrest.

I love those old etchings. It would seem that Victorian constables were carefully instructed in the proper way to stand aghast at the scene of a crime, with one arm extended forward holding a torch towards the corpse (or whatever) and the other bent at the elbow for a more pleasing composition.

Standards have certainly slipped somewhat since then.