Around 20 years ago I met a British lay preacher at a Summer retreat in North Carolina. His regular job was a policeman. We talked for a while and I was surprised to learn that he was authorized to carry a Walther PPK but only concealed.
Although most British Bobbies are not armed with guns, a few are.
I lost count of the armed police I saw last time I visited London.
And he gave his name as “Bond. James Bond.”
;^)
I saw armed police in a Paris train station...never saw an armed police at Heathrow or anywhere else in London.