A guy from Carfin, Lanarkshire, who phoned the police and told them he had a gun was eventually cornered on a rail-yard and shot by the cops. It seems that after this shooting had taken place it was found that the "gun" was in fact a piece of wood. ( No gun has been found after a massive search !).

If this is the case then I find it astounding that armed police are unable to satisfy themselves that a person is actually brandishing a real gun before they get trigger-happy.

It almost seems as if they are in a real hurry to discharge their own weapons without any aforethought about these potentially deadly acts.

How many times in the past have we seen armed coppers shooting someone who turned out to be innocent ? Surely they have better ways to decide if a person is a danger to himself or others BEFORE they start shooting ?