Both the public and police themselves are warming to the idea of officers being armed, according to research by the Police Association.
In a survey undertaken for the police officers' union last year and reported in the latest issue of Police News, 48 percent of police employees were in favour of general arming, up from 26 percent in 2005.
A corresponding shift in support was seen in public opinion, with 55 percent in last year's survey wanting to see police armed, compared with only 33 percent in 2003.
The survey was conducted before the deaths of police officers Don Wilkinson and Len Snee, both men having been killed in the past 12 months. Those on the frontline were most supportive of arming, with 55 percent of road policing staff and 54 percent of general duties staff in favour of the idea.
Association president Greg O'Connor said now was the time to address the issue of whether or not police should carry guns. He accused Prime Minister John Key and Police Commissioner Howard Broad of attempting to "close down the discussion that needs to be had on arming".
Taser stun guns did not provide the answer to armed offenders, Mr O'Connor said.
"They have a limited range and I think the day is coming when police will have to grapple with the reality that the best option may be to have a gun readily available in lock boxes in each patrol car, as they do in Norway."
Times had changed and police needed to change with the times, said Senior Sergeant Malcolm Ward, operations manager with the police technical support unit and a man with 42 years' experience on the frontline.
"We are facing serious issues of violence on the frontline, the magnitude of which we have not seen previously, and we have to respond to that."
He said he believed it should be the choice of those facing the risks to make the decision on whether or not they wanted to be armed.
Mr Ward said he personally had no desire to carry a gun or take the responsibility which came with it, but believed the reality of policing today meant it had become a "no brainer".
Senior Constable Mark Prendergast, who was shot when he and his partner went to a routine domestic incident in 1998, said he was in favour of arming frontline officers.
"I believe that first response units need all the tools available to them to be able to adequately deal with all incidents they attend."
He did, however, have reservations about whether some officers would have the maturity and physical ability to protect, guard, and secure their gun. "But I believe the New Zealand policing environment has reached the point where, unfortunately, we need to be armed," Mr Prendergast said.
"It's a big subject... There are fish hooks attached, of course, but on balance I think it is time."
