Euskadi forces all local police officers to carry a pistol. The measure affects the slightly more than 3,000 municipal police officers of this autonomous community.
The exception is a minority and occurs mainly in municipalities with very few inhabitants. The use of firearms, as with the rest of the police forces, will be governed by the principles of “appropriateness, necessity and proportionality” They may only be used when there is “a rationally serious risk” to the life and safety of the agent.