Norway’s 6,000 uniformed police will once again be disarmed. The Police Directorate initially announced plans to end the armament in November 2015, but it was extended following the Paris terror attacks. The new directive by Odd Reidar Humlegard calls for immediate disarmament: “there are no longer grounds to continue.”
Norway—like Britain, Iceland, Ireland and New Zealand—all follow a no-firearms policy that only allows for police officers to be equipped with guns under special circumstances. The police are trained on how to use firearms in emergency situations, but they are kept locked up in patrol vehicles rather than carried on their person.
In 2014, after Norway’s intelligence service PST raised the threat level due to potential Islamist terror attacks, officers were armed at all times. With the threat level now lowered, the country has reverted back to opening itself up to attack with no expedient means of protecting the citizenry.
