AS a ex squaddie in the brit forces i have used firearms as req of the type available at the time (early sixties) ,i believe that NO one other than trained personnel should have firearms, when i was a lad the local bobby was respected, he would give us young uns a clip on the ear and send us packing now it seems that the police are there to enforce more and more outlandish rules(covid as example), guns are made to KILL .in wartime yes soldiers and forces should have guns , but today do we need so many exotic types of guns that anyone seems to be able to get, there are more guns in Aus than when Howard had the national gun buy back, for me , the local beat police should not have a gun if he carries tazer,pepper spray, batton, on;ly specialized police with the right training should have access to guns , as you say we seem to be following the us , criminals will always get guns so yes the deterrent of being shot dead by armed police may work, as for DV more people should speak up about that, my rant over