I assume by "machine guns" you mean rifles, and by "open carrying" you mean "carrying." (there's no way to carry a rifle concealed) I have no idea what "D.F." is.
Another response above mentioned that American cops generally keep the long gun in the car. Since today we've got National Guardsmen with rifles in the NY subways acting as police, this conversation all feels a little tone deaf, but it's fair enough to point out that French law enforcement do like their rifles. I noticed that the first time I used a French airport, though, not out in the street. I don't remember ever seeing police walking in Paris, although I admit that I was a pretty sheltered tourist there.
(I bet there's a more nuanced conversation to be had here about the difference between police and gendarmerie and I just don't know enough about it, except I sort of wonder what the OP was doing that caused him to cross paths with heavily armed law enforcement outside of the airport or government buildings. Maybe Paris really has changed.)
I mean both fully-automatic rifles and submachine guns, but sure, I never saw someone lugging around an M2 like a 1980s action character.
> and by "open carrying" you mean "carrying."
I mainly meant to contrast it with having one easily accessible in their squad car, actually. American police do have long rifles, although these are mostly semiauto.
Since there is no way to carry a rifle concealed, all carry is in fact open carry... or is it? Is a rifle in a case open carry? It is not. The term means something in the U.S., and I was using it correctly. In places where citizens have the right to open carry, this applies to a slung rifle as well, in places where they do not, it's legal to carry a rifle, but it must be in a case.
This is no stranger than referring to New York City as NYC, it is an utterly commonplace term for the city, the one which Mexicans normally use in referring to it.
> Since today we've got National Guardsmen with rifles in the NY subways acting as police, this conversation all feels a little tone deaf
That may be the case, I've been to New York many times but not for many years now. If I had seen this, I would have mentioned it.
I don't see what about this conversation is tone deaf, other than perhaps your refusal to read what I said with reasonable generosity, or look up a common term for the largest city in North America when you didn't recognize it.
> I noticed that the first time I used a French airport, though, not out in the street.
They do tend to cluster around airports and train stations in both Paris and Brussels, although not exclusively. In D.F. you'll see machine guns open carried pretty much anywhere, true throughout Mexico in fact.
Another response above mentioned that American cops generally keep the long gun in the car. Since today we've got National Guardsmen with rifles in the NY subways acting as police, this conversation all feels a little tone deaf, but it's fair enough to point out that French law enforcement do like their rifles. I noticed that the first time I used a French airport, though, not out in the street. I don't remember ever seeing police walking in Paris, although I admit that I was a pretty sheltered tourist there.
(I bet there's a more nuanced conversation to be had here about the difference between police and gendarmerie and I just don't know enough about it, except I sort of wonder what the OP was doing that caused him to cross paths with heavily armed law enforcement outside of the airport or government buildings. Maybe Paris really has changed.)