What London Is Missing Out On

The news last week that the London police would begin packing heat may have been a bit overplayed. Some will. But bobbies on the beat will remain without guns, leaving them comparatively defenseless next to their well-armed foreign brethren.

CITY STANDARD POLICE WEAPONS

Bogota .38 cal. special with a 4-in. barrel, either Smith

& Wesson or a stainless-steel Ruger; nightstick

Johannesburg Z-88 9-mm automatic or P-38 service pistol

London A 12-to 15-in. wooden truncheon

Los Angeles 9-mm Beretta with 16 rounds; 21-in. aluminum baton

with a short side handle for two-handed leverage;

small canister of pepper spray Star 9-mm

Parabellum pistol

Madrid Star 9-mm Parbellum pistol

New York 9-mm Glock, SIG-Sauer or Smith & Wesson

semiautomatic, currently replacing .38-cal.

pistols; plastic or wooden baton; pepper-spray

canister

Singapore .38-cal. Smith & Wesson; 38-cm wooden baton

St. Petersburg Russian-made 9-mm Makarov pistol

Stuttgart, Germany Walther P-5 9-mm pistol

Tokyo .38-cal. New Nambu revolver; collapsible aluminum

baton, 530 mm when extended

Tombstone City, Arizona SIG-Sauer .45 semiautomatic pistol; pepper-spray

canister; Remington 1187 semiautomatic 12-gauge

shotgun carried in the car