Mr Gatt said it doesn't necessarily mean the guns need to be carried at all times, but police should be able to access them in the event of mass shooters or terrorist attacks. Ariana Grande fans flee Manchester Arena after a bomb exploded outside. Credit:Twitter In some jurisdictions, he said, these sorts of weapons are carried in police cars. "The need for this to occur is more important in this security environment where the threat of terrorism has never been higher," he said. Cr Doyle raised the issue of more firepower for beat police on morning radio on Thursday, with 3AW presenter Neil Mitchell appearing surprised at the proposal: "You can't have a bloke on point duty or walking down the beat carrying one," he said.

"Well, yes you can," Cr Doyle responded. Chief Commissioner of Victoria Police Graham Ashton. "I'm not suggesting that we should; I'm saying we should ask the question ... We have to ask questions and say to our police, do you have all you need in a changing world where the threat is probable?" In Paris, police were given new assault rifles after 130 people were killed and hundreds injured when jihadist gunmen armed with Kalashnikovs and bombs attacked a concert hall, restaurants and cafes in the city in November 2015. A Victorian policeman using the force's new simulator used for active shooter training. Credit:Jason South

A member of the BAC, France's anti-criminal police unit, was first on the scene at the Bataclan concert hall. He shot dead one of the jihadists but was forced to retreat and wait for tactical officers because he wasn't equipped sufficiently against the two still alive. French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve announced last year that all BAC officers would carry similar firearms as the country's tactical forces and every police patrol unit would be equipped with German automatic rifles, the HK G36. Robert Doyle in the 3AW studio with Neil Mitchell. Credit:3AW Mr Gatt said the Police Association has advocated for at least a decade for general duties police have access to long-arm rifles. But with Victorian police now undergoing a shift in tactics following Sydney's Lindt cafe siege, the push for access to more powerful firearms has gained traction.

As part of what police are calling "active armed offender" training, NSW Police is considering giving its general duties members access to long-arms. Mr Ashton confirmed it was an option Victoria Police had also looked at. Police forces across the country are moving away from the traditional "cordon, contain and negotiate" model to training police first on the scene to be prepared to immediately engage armed terrorists or mass shooters before tactical police arrive, in order to reduce casualties. Since 1994, Victorian police have been trained under Project Beacon – where the safety of police, the public and suspects is the highest priority. The centre point of the tactic is to contain the threat and wait for specialist police to take control. The proven policy was based on the view that the longer a siege lasted the more likely it would be resolved peacefully. But local and international terror attacks have shown that terrorists may pretend to negotiate in order to maximise publicity while intending to kill as many hostages and police as possible before dying in a final shootout.

NSW police were operating under the "cordon and contain" philosophy when gunman Man Haron Monis took eight cafe staff members and 10 customers hostage for 16 hours in a Lindt cafe on December 15, 2014. Coroner Michael Barnes found police waited too long to enter the cafe, and recommended the force reconsider the entrenched philosophy of cordon and contain. He stressed the deaths of hostages Tori Johnson and Katrina Dawson were not the fault of police. "All of the blame for those [deaths] rests on the shoulders of Man Monis," he said.