Politicians warned against “knee-jerk reactions” after a former Scottish justice minister called for all police officers in the country to be armed.
Kenny MacAskill said rank and file staff should be given stun guns like those seen outside Holyrood.
His calls were backed by the general secretary of the Scottish Police Federation Calum Steele, who said nothing should be “off the table.”
The fresh debate came ahead of today’s funeral of PC Keith Palmer who was stabbed to death in the terrorist attack on Westminster last month.
Mr MacAskill said it was hypocritical for politicians who were protected by armed guards to deny the same to people elsewhere.
He said: “Holyrood has had officers with Tasers stun guns patrolling outside it.
“Now that Taser protection is afforded them, how then they deny that to other communities or officers who face the risks.”
Mr Steele said: “The consensus is that what we have at the moment is not good enough.
“Nothing should be off the table when we’re talking about protecting officers from harm, and the lives of others.”
But these calls came under fire from former cabinet minister Alistair Carmichael, who said the sight of guns should not be normalised.
The MP for Orkney and Shetland said: “I do not see that the level of threat to the police is so high that it justifies this step.
“One of my objections to arming the police is it normalises the sight of police officers carrying guns and it normalises guns.
“Once this step is taken it is nearly impossible to reverse.”
In July 2014, residents of Inverness raised complaints after seeing armed police in public places across the city including at fast-food restaurants and supermarkets.
Highlands and Islands MSP and former police officer John Finnie said the move would reduce the approachability of officers.
He said: “I think it important that these things are assessed on the basis of the threat level.
“However we are told there is no additional threat to Scotland.
“We also have a significant number of armed police and it is important not to make knee jerk reactions to events.
“Arming the police will reduce their approachability to members of the public.
“The job of the police is to prevent crime and that requires cooperation.”
