A machine gun is a weapon, that, on depressing the trigger releases a stream of rounds until such time as the trigger is released, the ammunition runs out, or the barrel melts.

No police force in the UK ever carries or deploys such a weapon.

I haven’t bothered to follow your links through, since time was I supplied most of the UK police establishment with most of their ammunition and some weapons.

What you will generally see at airports is an H&K MP5 (or sometimes now an MP10) a machine pistol restricted to single-shot (semi-auto) only.

It is a small difference, but a quite important one.

Moggy

that would be these then ??? i don’t believe for one second that a force protecting major strategic airports would be retarded enough to deactivate a weapons full ability !! but then there’s the explanation they think joe public is ignorant enough to take in !!

http://youtu.be/963-B2Al428

but at the time not everyone knew that and without doubt it was an intimmidating display of millitary streangth

Whilst agreeing 100% with your ‘posturing’ suggestion, may I just point out that no British policemen tote machine guns at Heathrow or elsewhere?

Moggy

realy ??? the police arms carried at most airports ( police at my local airport certainly carry !! ) assault rifles ( listed between a light machine gun and a sub machine gun ) so to all intents and purposes a machine gun !!

this chappie at manchester airport

http://img.metro.co.uk/i/pix/2011/09/21/article-1316606637993-0E045C9A00000578-387899_466x296.jpg

without any doubt is armed with an H&K G36 assault riffle it has a firing selection of “F” meaning continuous firing “that my friend is a machine gun !”

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heckler_%26_Koch_G36

and they have been a regular sight since at least the 1990’s

I thought that one of the things that the military did was to deploy soldiers ships, aircraft, guns etc. in places where a potential enemy might attack. I think it is called “defence”.
The military also have the capability to show an potential enemy that they have all these tanks, soldiers, aircraft, ships, etc. that they could use against them. I believe this is called “deterrence”

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quite correct if anyone rememmbers the red square parades of the sixties and seventies ( it was practicaly the only news reports to come out of the secretavie communist russia ) but it worked !! it was quite an astonishing and frightning display of hardware and streangth

the reality was much of it wasn’t actualy that good but it made outsiders think twice and kept the west on its toes for many decades

and that is defence don’t forget we used wooden tanks and inflatable tanks as decoys in WW2 ( It was very sucessful and achieved its goals )

defence isn’t only actualy having the equipment but also blagging the enemy into thinking you have too even when you don’t then slapping them on the back of the head when they least expect it !!

maybe he did ! but without a doubt there is a phenomenal market to exploit for the one that finaly does it !!

and in a retro everything obsessed age i feel it won’t be far off !!

exactly arthur , my feeling is that it has been much too quiet regarding terrorists bragging about or hearing about foiled plots

some somewhere must be plotting , it is too big a stage for them not too

i worry more when you aren’t hearing anything it is like the calm before the storm

that may be so bmused !! but first and foremost he is a sucessful businessman !!

the amount of intrest for a transatlantic titanic replica cruise would be phenomenal i reccon his places would be full for many decades at a healthy premium charge !!

I was thinking more about the need for Surface-to-Air missiles to protect the Olympics.

While I agree that some form of terrorist incident is possible, I’d even go so far as to say likely, I don’t believe there is any justification for SAM missile defence of the Olympics; especially considering the fighter ‘top-cover’ and ‘no-fly-zone’! 😀

realy ?? even considdering the recently released information about the foiled plot to take hostage a group of airliners that was very close to becoming a reality for us !!

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/terrorism-in-the-uk/6153243/Airline-terror-trial-The-bomb-plot-to-kill-10000-people.html

if they ever get the brains to work out it is modern technology screwing up thier plots and decide to go back to chatting in quiet corners the implications could be very real i’d say !!