The WA Police Union has urged the state's new top cop to equip metropolitan officers with long-arm rifles to be able to deal with the possibility of a mass shooting such as the recent attack on concert goers in Las Vegas.
The WAPU has made a fresh submission to Police Commissioner Chris Dawson to equip Perth based cops with long arm guns, such as AR-15s.
At the moment only country based cops and the highly trained Tactical Response Group have ready access to long-arm rifles.
A similar submission by the union was knocked back by the previous police commissioner Karl O'Callaghan.
But the union has put forward the new proposal as part of a review into the running of the police force, which was initiated by Mr Dawson in August when he took on the role.
The union says the plan needs to be reconsidered once again because police officers "who are at the coalface" of a possible terrorist attack would have little more than handguns to immediately respond to an "active shooter" situation - such as the Las Vegas attack which claimed 58 lives.
"Members have and continue to request to be equipped with long-arm rifles whilst performing their duties in the metropolitan region," the union's submission reads.
"Concerns have also been expressed about the potential time of TRG deployment in response to an active shooter situation.
"WAPU believes it is more likely that armed offender incidents will happen in metropolitan WA than regional WA (where A5-15s are issued).
"Therefore, WAPU believes it is an opportune time to consider whether the long arm options available to our members in the metropolitan region are adequate in the current climate."
WAPU president George Tilbury told WAtoday: "If you are up against a well-armed individual with a high-calibre weapon, a handgun will not be any match.
"We need to equip our officers with the best possible resources to provide the first line of defence against any possible threat."
WA Police declined to answer questions from WAtoday about the new submission.
A spokeswoman said Mr Dawson would not be making any comments about the review until the process was completed.