Radical Islamic terrorism continues to be a growing problem throughout the world. Over the weekend, the United Kingdom (UK) was hit by yet another terrorist attack. Specifically, Muslim terrorists used a van to run people over on a bridge. They then got out of the van and started stabbing random people over the course of several minutes before ultimately being killed.

If anyone had a firearm, the terrorists could have been stopped immediately after they started attacking. However, since the country has very strict gun laws, the citizens were basically helpless during the attack. To defend themselves, they had to resort to throwing bottles and chairs. What’s worse, even the police in the country are largely unarmed, and as a result, several responding officers were severely hurt, underscoring the importance of gun ownership.

According to reports, seven people were killed and many others were wounded by three jihadists attacking people on the London Bridge. The extremists used a van to run several people over before jumping out and stabbing random people with knives. The first officers arrived at the scene in roughly two minutes, but since they didn’t have lethal weapons, they couldn’t do much to stop them.

Despite this, several brave officers tried holding them off until their armed colleagues arrived. One of the officers, for example, channeled his inner-Rambo and charged at the three attackers armed only with a baton. While beating back the three jihadists, he was stabbed in the face, head, and leg. Thankfully, he’s currently recovering at a nearby hospital in a stable condition.

Paul Crowther, the Chief Constable, praised the officer for his bravery. “Having visited the officer in hospital shortly after he was admitted for treatment, I was able to hear his account of what happened last night,” he explained, adding, “It became clear that he showed enormous courage in the face of danger, as did many others who were at the scene and rushed to help.” He continued, “for an officer who only joined us less than two years ago, the bravery he showed was outstanding and makes me extremely proud,” noting, “all of us at BTP wish him a swift recovery, and I know he will be touched by the hundreds of messages of support from across the UK and the world. He added, “our thoughts are with all of those who died or were injured, and their loved ones as they try to come to terms with what happened.”

Although the officer’s bravery is undeniable, many were unsurprisingly outraged over the fact that he wasn’t armed. One of the most upset was former Fox News’ host Bill O’Reilly. On Twitter, he wrote, “the cop in London who confronted the knife-wielding terrorist yesterday was severely hurt because he was not allowed to carry a gun,” followed by, “PC gets people hurt.”

PC gets people hurt. — Bill O'Reilly (@BillOReilly) June 4, 2017

If the responding officers had firearms, they would have been able to stop the attacker without getting hurt. This is because they would have been able to engage the terrorists from a distance. On top of that, they would have been able to stop them sooner.

The first officers, who showed up two minutes after the attack started, would have been able to quickly kill all three jihadists if they had guns. However, since they didn’t, they had to wait until armed reinforcements arrived, which took eight minutes. Even though it may not seem like a long time when responding to a terrorist attack, every second matters. Many more people ended up being harmed because of the delay.

Hopefully, the UK government learns from this attack and they reform their gun laws. This incident has made it clear that at the very least they should start arming every single police officer. In order to combat terrorism and keep everyone safe, officers need every single tool at their disposal. Failing to do this puts people’s lives in extreme danger.