Man tries to rob cop at police convention

[Richard Hakluyt]

Actually I didn't think British police officers routinely carried firearms... unsure about that though, and no idea on the rest of Europe except for Italy, where not only did they seem to always be armed, but usually they appeared to carry SMGs.

They don't. But a high proportion are trained as firearms officers who can be issued with guns at short notice and are actually very competent at handling them.

And Malthus is right I think; apart from rural folk blasting away at rabbits and pheasants with their shotguns, firearms are very rare here, even amongst villains.

[DontSayBanana]

Seems an absurd definition creep.

By that account *any* threat is a "terroristic threat", since the whole point of a "threat" is to put someone in fear to make them do (or not do) something.

Cookie cutter charge. Hear of it all the time.

Basically, any threat *is* a "terroristic threat" in legalese. It's what they put on you if they can't file simple assault charges.