According to a recent Police Association survey, 69 per cent of New Zealand officers want to be armed regularly.

Violence against the police is on the rise with 1500 officers assaulted in 2020.

Former officer and former National MP Chester Borrows told Heather du Plessis-Allan the figures do not surprise him.

"The Police have always wanted more and more equipment I suppose to get tougher and tougher, and I can understand that... they're dealing with stuff I never saw so it's a totally different environment."

However, Borrows believes adding more guns to people's hips is not the answer.

"You are going to see more deaths, you are going to see more Policemen shot and you're going to see more civilians shot.

"If you look at the States where they arm the Police, something like 80 per cent of Police get killed in the States with their own firearm."