# Why do US Passport control officers carry guns

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-us-passport-control-officers-carry-guns/704257>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [November 10, 2014, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-us-passport-control-officers-carry-guns/704257 "2014-11-10T18:03:34Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![pkbites](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pkbites/32/204_2.png) [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)\
**Post date:** [November 11, 2014, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-us-passport-control-officers-carry-guns/704257/21 "2014-11-11T19:55:07Z")

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> [@Northern\_Piper](#):
>
> But that answer just pushes it back one level. Why is a gun considered full equipment at all times?

It isn’t. It’s just part of the full equipment. If I’m in uniform and have my duty belt on but something is missing 9firearm, baton, whatever0 I can still be written up for not being in full uniform.

> [@Joey\_P](#):
>
> IIRC, one of the Milwaukee Sheriffs\* decided that all his deputies were deputies 100% of the time. And with that, they had to carry their gun and handcuffs with them even when off duty.
> 
> PK probably remembers this better than I do.  
> \*This may have been the police chief/police officers, I really don’t remember that well.

MPD.

But Clarke made all sorts of policy changes on a whim all the time. he’d verbally make them and they never made it into written policy but then Deps and CO’s would get an IA case for breaking a policy even though it wasn’t written. didn’t matter. I always carried a firearm/cuffs/ID card on me anyway. I don’t need a rule telling me to do that.

Bill Klamm was Sheriff when I came on, but was gone within a year. I don’t really recall details of some of the policy changes Artison, Kliesmet, and Baldwin did. None of it was as insane as King Davids, though.

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**Author:** ![bob\_2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bob_2/32/3341_2.png) [@bob\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_2)\
**Post date:** [November 11, 2014, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-us-passport-control-officers-carry-guns/704257/22 "2014-11-11T20:51:21Z")

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Come to Heathrow, the busiest airport in the word by passenger count, and the clerk in the little booth who scans your passport will certainly not be armed. You may see a uniformed soldier carrying a SA80 rifle, but unless there is an alert they usually keep a low profile.

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**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\
**Post date:** [November 11, 2014, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-us-passport-control-officers-carry-guns/704257/23 "2014-11-11T20:54:24Z")

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I believe it’s spelled Heefrow.

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