More on Nonsensical Knife Bans: It really hurts me.

[SpyderEdgeForever]

I know others have discussed this but it is worth mentioning again. I just do not understand, I cannot find any logical or common sense or reasonable stretch of the imagination as to why entire populations of people would support the ban against man's most fundamental and original tool, the knife.

http://frontpagemag.com/2012/dgreenfiel ... an-on-long
-kitchen-knives-to-end-stabbings/

" The UK outlawed the switchblade and gravity knife in 1959.

In 1988 possession of a pocket knife with a blade larger than 3 inches in public became illegal.

In 1996, it became illegal to sell a razor blade to anyone under the age of 16.

In 2007, you needed a license to be able to sell “non-domestic knives.”

Despite all that knifepoint robberies rose by 10 percent this year and there are some 60,000 stabbings each year. So the push is on to outlaw long kitchen knives. Once that’s done, surely utopia will be at hand."


I will be honest. This literally brings me to tears, fellow Spyderco enthusiasts. Please, your feedback is welcome. Is there any way to stop this or have people in England and Europe gone past the point of no return? I am thankful that in the USA we have groups like Knife-Rights and AKTI but I just don't get how people can be so dumbed down to fall for this nonsense.

There is a group in the UK called "Mothers Against Knives":

http://mothersagainstknives.tripod.com/

They want knives banned, too, in the name of stopping "knife crime".

I mean, honestly: Do any of you here foresee the citizens of the UK and Europe standing up and reversing these laws, or is this only going to get worse?

And what about America's future on this issue? Will we see more bans on knives and cutlery increasing or will we see a return to a more logical and rational nation?

I can point to countless cases where a knife on hand saved a life. It is all in the hands of the individual. A knife is just a tool, like a cane or a coffee mug. You can commit murder with either of them or use them for constructive and helpful purposes.

I am glad there are people on here from the UK and Europe who post and who love knives and support the rights of people to carry them and own them.

[.357 mag]

And the UK has 3 times the violent crime rate than the US... Go figure.

[Mr_Moe]

This is a subject that get's me really worked up. German legislators are equally erratic sometimes. What no one seems to get is that violence starts in the mind. It's far too simplistic to ban weapons and knives and eventually steel pipes and steel chains and whatnot. I don't know how that could be achieved, but what would make a difference is helping people, especially young people to get rid of violent impulses or to control them. Besides that there's a whole industry that gives young people the impression that crime and violence are cool. Compared to many other places the UK has already banned lots of things, still crime and violence haven't decreased, supposedly gun violence has been increasing for years. Mothers who worry about the safety of their children or who have even lost them are certainly to be commended for trying to make a difference, but they are merely scratching the surface of the problem and legislators jump on the bandwagon so they can pat their own shoulders and show everyone that they're doing something to bring about change.

It's saddening to see how dumbed down society has become in the past decades. There are no easy solutions to complicated problems. Bans and restrictions mostly hurt those who are honest and honorable people. When all is banned people will use forks to hurt others, or sharpened sticks. To put it bluntly- I am very tired of having to deal with more restrictions while I am a reliable and responsible person. The ones that cause the seeming need for more restrictions won't be bothered anyway.

[The Deacon]

And what about America's future on this issue? Will we see more bans on knives and cutlery increasing or will we see a return to a more logical and rational nation?

The idea of that negative human behavior can be prevented by banning "things" is a panacea that will always be attractive to crusaders and politicians, in spite of never being successful. On a national level, we saw an attempt by ICE to extend the definition of switchblades to include assisted openers and perhaps others as well turned back by congress. So, despite what's happened in NYC and a few other isolated pockets of delusional thinking, there's probably more hope of sanity here than in the UK, at least where knives are concerned.

[N. Brian Huegel]

It is easier to ban (cheaper) than to tackle the real issues through education and mental heath.

[sal]

Just make "crime" against the law.

sal

[robot37]

Just make "crime" against the law.

sal

+1
That's been my solution all along.

-nate

[sal]

Hi Nate,

Welcome to our forum.

sal

[phillipsted]

I think we should ban all automobiles since they cause 33,000 deaths in the U.S. every year. While we are at it, let's ban cigarettes and sugar (e.g., they cause lung cancer and diabetes)...

TedP

[Evil D]

Laws only effect the law abiding. Last I heard, robbing someone for any reason with any weapon was against the law, knife or not. Even if you put a stop production order on every knife making company in existence, people would make their own.

[jvarn81]

I think we should ban all automobiles since they cause 33,000 deaths in the U.S. every year. While we are at it, let's ban cigarettes and sugar (e.g., they cause lung cancer and diabetes)...

TedP

Don't give them ideas LOL, isn't there a law in NYC on the size of soda you can buy......whats his name? Mayor Bloomberg? Scary stuff for the future, we will be forced to be brainless sheep.

[RedRunner]

I think we should ban all automobiles since they cause 33,000 deaths in the U.S. every year. While we are at it, let's ban cigarettes and sugar (e.g., they cause lung cancer and diabetes)...

TedP

We should look at banning the use of the New York City subway too. Just read a report that it kills a person once a week (people falling on the tracks - but we all know the subway is the amuse of this.)

[Blerv]

I think we should ban all automobiles since they cause 33,000 deaths in the U.S. every year. While we are at it, let's ban cigarettes and sugar (e.g., they cause lung cancer and diabetes)...

TedP

Don't forget motorcycles and leaf-blowers. They are about as emission compliant as a dinosaur murdering caveman.

Crime is always going to be here and predators will be pursuing prey if left to wooden clubs. While I believe in proper regulation of anything deemed as a less improvised "weapon", perhaps even having to go through waiting periods and background checks for some things, making these tools illegal doesn't seem the proper path.

As mentioned by another poster legislation is attempting to fix a problem by eliminating the symptom, not finding the cure. In this case counseling and psychological analysis is very expensive and we don't have asylums anymore because of the mistreatment of such patients. A pity they had to be abused and a pity that society as a whole has to deal with the backlash.

I hate to be "that guy" but humanity is good at evolving and horrible at immediate survival. We justify things that wild animals would flee from instinctively. What is "right" on a human level is often "wrong" on a cultural level. Luckily we are far from becoming extinct.

[Pockets]

Laws only effect the law abiding. Last I heard, robbing someone for any reason with any weapon was against the law, knife or not. Even if you put a stop production order on every knife making company in existence, people would make their own.

Exactly. There is a thread on EDCF right now about improvised knives as art. It is incredibly easy to make stabbing weapons. Banning knives won't help.

[sal]

, we will be forced to be brainless sheep.

Brainless sheep that pay taxes.

sal

[kbuzbee]

Brainless sheep that pay taxes.

sal

... even MORE taxes!

Ken

[Dr Hairy]

Not sure why we are discussing this today - the OP in the linked article is digging up dirt about a campaign to ban long pointy kitchen knives from back in 2005. It didn't happen. We did lose the right to buy fake £40 wallhanger katanas - so what? I could still buy an NBTHK certified shinsakuto if I had deep enough pockets (I wish). This is old news.

[JD Spydo]

It's like Sal and others have either said or implied>> we need criminal control not gun, knife, car or any other outlandish attempts to control what can't be controlled. To blame the hardware used is outright ludicrous and is missing the entire nucleus of the problem.

The one Brother makes an excellent point about cars because there have been more lives taken through car accidents that all the wars combined but no one is even suggesting any type of control on cars other than what's already on the books.

I used to be in the tree business and I think you would be extremely hard pressed to find many tools more potentially dangerous than a chainsaw. The 2 minor accidents I had in the 18 years I was in that trade could have been life threatening had I not been very quick to react>>> but I've never once heard anyone suggest to legislate control on chain saws.

We have drug control laws but here in Kansas City as well as all other major cities in the USA >> but you can get all the drugs you want if you have the money. Where I'm working I have people offer me illegal drugs all the time and I don't even look for them or ask for them>> so laws attempting to control things to attempt to protect us just don't work for the most part. Gun and knife control laws basically give the criminal the upper hand because where you have the most astringent gun and knife laws you usually have much more heinous crime.

Criminal control is the only common sense solution to all heinous crime IMO. Mandated sentences would help more than anything.

[O,just,O]

There is a group in the UK called "Mothers Against Knives":

These people grew up (mostly) on a pedestal with their senses pampered. They feel important, protected & priveliged. One of those priveliges is their rights. Pity is that their balance is off from all the pampering & coo coo lies whispered in their ear. They would wither & die if separated from the source that always nurtured, protected & supplied all their wants. Because of this they don't seem to understand that others also have rights & are quite willing to trample yours while bleating about theirs.
Now throw that in with the climate of fear that is pervading the globe at this time & it is every speeding car, every rusty nail, every broken bottle, every bitey dog, every fly & mosquito & YOU !
They have fallen victim to fear from never developing the skill set to deal with it. They & the children are on the inside & all you bad men who they don't know are on the out side pointing dangerous pointy things at them.
look inside ourselves & see how much of that conditioned thinking is driving us. Then feel a bit sorry for them.
We have laws in our various countries, just a pity that the lawless do not respect them & the law makers don't support, enough, those who are employed to enforce them. Instead they create a climate of fear in the hope that we will self regulate at very little cost.
& here we go round the mullberry bush on a cold & frosty morning, round & round.
O.

[linuxology]

Al sharpton was on the radio a few days about bannin knives. The ban talk is in the air though no one to my knowledge listens to al. This is a right that I am not willing to lose.