http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=romans%2013:1-5;&version=3
1;

Both fear of punishment and conscience seem to be lacking with these blokes.

As a general practice, they do not carry guns. It's an issue of apparent debate over there, terrorism being one of many debatable points. I doubt being armed with pistols would have helped in this situation. When a cop pulls a gun, it's generally because he intends to use it. Even though these guys were overpowered and in uncertain danger, I imagine the outcry would have been pretty huge if there was a tidy video showing English cops shooting a bunch of unarmed drunk guys.

Pepper spray sure would have been handy.

Here's a BBC link on the gun debate:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/talking_point/1156341.stm

WolfDemon - That was actually a sampling of a couple of songs from the soundtrack for Last of the Mohicans. It looks like they still sell the album on Amazon...