There are a number of forces at play with this.
Personally I would rather see armed citizenry than armed Police on the streets.
This may appear rather odd from your perspective,but the physiological traits of most UK police officers are on the shall we say “the kid who was bullied at school” side.
A loosening of some of the laws with regards to the use of violence in self defence or the defence of others would be a good start.
If it comes to Police being routinely armed i want a firearm as well.
The use of the weapon will have to be as tightly controlled as the taser is now, other wise the police state mentality will blossom into a nightmare.
When you aren’t allowed to carry, the sight of a person with excessive powers already , having the power of life and death controlled by a suspect personality does make one rather uneasy.
Whilst the secret security agencies are able to cope, let's keep things as they are. Unless of course they are a little more involved than is palatable to contemplate...
Executive summary:
Most brits hate the sight of firearms in public places.
Physiological traits? I think you mean psychological!
You mean they don’t stand around and say “ Now now what’s all this?”