U.K. Sword Ban

[isshinryuronin]

10 weeks after purchasing a sword, my friend has been told UPS have agreed to courier her piece of art to her by the weekend or early next week. The fun and games will begin when it arrives in the U.K….

Breakout the watermelons!

 

[Gyakuto]

Breakout the watermelons!

You mean start filling the secured, earthquake room with argon!

 

[Wing Woo Gar]

10 weeks after purchasing a sword, my friend has been told UPS have agreed to courier her piece of art to her by the weekend or early next week. The fun and games will begin when it arrives in the U.K….

Have you had, or do you know of difficulty in transferring funds internationally from the U.K. To the USA? What would be your preference of method?

 

[Gyakuto]

Have you had, or do you know of difficulty in transferring funds internationally from the U.K. To the USA? What would be your preference of method?

I buy things from the USA via ebay using Paypal without any difficulty. I regularly buy things from Japan using Paypal and bank transfers without any difficulty.

Why do you ask?

 

[Cri70]

There was another ‘knife’ crime yesterday in London with the weapon being a Japanese-style sword. A 14 year old boy was tragically killed. Most knife crime in the U.K. occurs in our capitol.

Hainault: What we know about London sword attack

Details are still emerging about the serious incident in north-east London on Tuesday morning.

www.bbc.co.uk

Now, there’s a call to bring forward the ban on exotic knives (including swords) in an attempt to curb the increase in stabbings.

I wonder what you think of this? Where will it leave people who use swords in their art. Do you think it’ll make any difference to the crime rates?

I like the idea of a total ban of carrying with authorized exceptions for certain practitioners (similar to guns here in Europe), but I feel also it'd very hard to implement. A switchblade knife can be used to kill and it's very easily concealed in a small pocket. Nobody sees it until it's too late - actually a super-important warning sign if you feel someone has ill intent is to look if they have their hands visible or in pockets. In the latter case - it's imperative they don't get close. And once a guy carrying is found, it's usually because he's already used the blade And for what matters, my kitchen chef knives are just as deadly.

Random checks feel like a medicine worse than the sickness - there's already so much rise in the power of police and government over the common person due to technology advances.

On the other hand, going around with a tachi- or katana-sized sharp blade is quite evident... but nobody probably reports it because everybody mind their business, which is in general a good thing.

So it's a conundrum.

Unfortunately, the most obvious option is the one I don't like much at all: targeted checks on specific segments of population who have a higher probability to carry blades for actual violent use.

Here in Oslo, Norway for example there's a steep increase in very young boys in gangs (from 12-13 yo up) carrying blades, and using them to intimidate and steal from other boys of the same age. Some months ago a 14yo actually killed a man stabbing him because he felt threatened, and he's now been released: the police can't do much because here minors aren't under it jurisdiction. It's an increasingly bad situation and people begins to feel insecure in letting their children go around alone in town.

It's a very touchy subject given the nature of the issue, and politicians of course don't help as they either use the problem to gain popularity with populistic means, appealing to race and background and hinting to the fools who judge people by looks that's it's an "immigration" or "asylum seekers" problem (like there weren't local criminals); and others ignore the problem altogether in the name of well-meant antiracism and aspiration to equality.

In short, I have no clue what's the best thing to do. A ban would however decrease the likelihood of incidents a bit, not to zero, but lower it - so I tend to be in favor.

 

[Gyakuto]

We’ve had another tragic mass stabbing here in the U.K. : three young children killed at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class. The assailant was a 17 year old boy, using a kitchen knife, who is widely reported in the press of being autistic (if that’s at all relevant). Stabbings seem to be on the rise in the U.K. and I’m so glad firearms aren’t available over here as I believe they would be the murder weapon of choice.

The banning of certain types of knife does work: I’ve never seen a switch blade, ever, and butterfly knives since the 80s. But most stabbings are performed with cheap kitchen knives which you simply cannot legislate against.

I personally support the idea of random searches by the police (and metal detectors in all public venues). They would have to have extra training in good manners/politeness/arrogance reduction, maybe have an ethnic minority officer in each team to help avoid accusations of racism etc. Like having CCTV in public places, what’s the issue unless you are a miscreant?

 

[Wing Woo Gar]

I like the idea of a total ban of carrying with authorized exceptions for certain practitioners (similar to guns here in Europe), but I feel also it'd very hard to implement. A switchblade knife can be used to kill and it's very easily concealed in a small pocket. Nobody sees it until it's too late - actually a super-important warning sign if you feel someone has ill intent is to look if they have their hands visible or in pockets. In the latter case - it's imperative they don't get close. And once a guy carrying is found, it's usually because he's already used the blade And for what matters, my kitchen chef knives are just as deadly.

Random checks feel like a medicine worse than the sickness - there's already so much rise in the power of police and government over the common person due to technology advances.

On the other hand, going around with a tachi- or katana-sized sharp blade is quite evident... but nobody probably reports it because everybody mind their business, which is in general a good thing.

So it's a conundrum.

Unfortunately, the most obvious option is the one I don't like much at all: targeted checks on specific segments of population who have a higher probability to carry blades for actual violent use.

Here in Oslo, Norway for example there's a steep increase in very young boys in gangs (from 12-13 yo up) carrying blades, and using them to intimidate and steal from other boys of the same age. Some months ago a 14yo actually killed a man stabbing him because he felt threatened, and he's now been released: the police can't do much because here minors aren't under it jurisdiction. It's an increasingly bad situation and people begins to feel insecure in letting their children go around alone in town.

It's a very touchy subject given the nature of the issue, and politicians of course don't help as they either use the problem to gain popularity with populistic means, appealing to race and background and hinting to the fools who judge people by looks that's it's an "immigration" or "asylum seekers" problem (like there weren't local criminals); and others ignore the problem altogether in the name of well-meant antiracism and aspiration to equality.

In short, I have no clue what's the best thing to do. A ban would however decrease the likelihood of incidents a bit, not to zero, but lower it - so I tend to be in favor.

Careful on the political talk, the admins will admonish.

 

[Wing Woo Gar]

We’ve had another tragic mass stabbing here in the U.K. : three young children killed at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class. The assailant was a 17 year old boy, using a kitchen knife, who is widely reported in the press of being autistic (if that’s at all relevant). Stabbings seem to be on the rise in the U.K. and I’m so glad firearms aren’t available over here as I believe they would be the murder weapon of choice.

The banning of certain types of knife does work: I’ve never seen a switch blade, ever, and butterfly knives since the 80s. But most stabbings are performed with cheap kitchen knives which you simply cannot legislate against.

I personally support the idea of random searches by the police (and metal detectors in all public venues). They would have to have extra training in good manners/politeness/arrogance reduction, maybe have an ethnic minority officer in each team to help avoid accusations of racism etc. Like having CCTV in public places, what’s the issue unless you are a miscreant?

Spoken like a true magistrate.

 

[Krisxylove]

There was another ‘knife’ crime yesterday in London with the weapon being a Japanese-style sword. A 14 year old boy was tragically killed. Most knife crime in the U.K. occurs in our capitol.

Hainault: What we know about London sword attack

Details are still emerging about the serious incident in north-east London on Tuesday morning.

www.bbc.co.uk

Now, there’s a call to bring forward the ban on exotic knives (including swords) in an attempt to curb the increase in stabbings.

I wonder what you think of this? Where will it leave people who use swords in their art. Do you think it’ll make any difference to the crime rates?

I think they should just ban murder. Problem solved.

 

[Gyakuto]

Careful on the political talk, the admins will admonish.

Oh it’s very general…

 

[Gyakuto]

I think they should just ban murder. Problem solved.

…whilst riding a unicorn

 

[Wing Woo Gar]

…whilst riding a unicorn

So you can’t own these at all ?

 

[Krisxylove]

So you can’t own these at all ?

Definitely not. It looks too scary. In D.C defensive knives are illegal. So you would have to use a non-tactical folding knive (as a box cutter) in order to defend yourself from someone illegally using a machete to murder you.

 

[Wing Woo Gar]

The small one is a microtech double action out the front type”switchblade”. In California I can walk down the street with a sharpened katana on my hip, but that microtech blade can only be possessed in my home and may only be transported in the trunk of a vehicle. Even simple possession of a Shuriken is a potential felony. Throwing knives however, are perfectly legal.

 

[Wing Woo Gar]

Definitely not. It looks too scary. In D.C defensive knives are illegal. So you would have to use a non-tactical folding knive (as a box cutter) in order to defend yourself from someone illegally using a machete to murder you.

“Looks” scary? Hilarious. Scary is when this guy comes in to talk about your surgery.

 

[Wing Woo Gar]

Definitely not. It looks too scary. In D.C defensive knives are illegal. So you would have to use a non-tactical folding knive (as a box cutter) in order to defend yourself from someone illegally using a machete to murder you.

Washington DC?

 

[Gyakuto]

So you can’t own these at all ?

Probably not.

 

[Gyakuto]

In California I can walk down the street with a sharpened katana on my hip,

Wow! I need to move!

 

[Krisxylove]

The small one is a microtech double action out the front type”switchblade”. In California I can walk down the street with a sharpened katana on my hip, but that microtech blade can only be possessed in my home and may only be transported in the trunk of a vehicle. Even simple possession of a Shuriken is a potential felony. Throwing knives however, are perfectly legal.

So you'll have to scratch off getting a Shuiken kill from your list

 

[Wing Woo Gar]

Definitely not. It looks too scary. In D.C defensive knives are illegal. So you would have to use a non-tactical folding knive (as a box cutter) in order to defend yourself from someone illegally using a machete to murder you.

The most dangerous knife is a 3 inch paring knife you can conceal in your hand. Scary “looking” means f*ck all in reality.