The UK has descended to licensing knife dealers and banning swords.

Yes, that's right. You need a government license to sell a sharp piece of metal. You'll need to record the buyer's name and address. The UK has implemented knife registration, never mind that there's no way to match up a specific knife to a specific crime scene the way that sometimes you can match up a specific bullet to a specific gun. Even the paper-thin justification for registration that the convenient fiction of ballistic fingerprinting provides has been discarded.

I'd say the UK is well overdue for a German invasion attempt to remind them of why weapons are important and useful tools. All it will take is another generation or two and they won't even be able to stand up to the French.

The highlights:

Giving police unconditional powers of arrest when they suspect someone of carrying a knife or "offensive weapon"
Requiring the purchaser of a "non-domestic" knife to be over 17.
Banning swords, with the exception of "ceremonial, religious, sporting, or cultural purposes" (hint: that would be all of them; swords are no longer practical self-defense weapons).
Individual licensing of sword purchases (yes, that's right; beg for permission to buy each one), along the same lines as a firearm license.

From my cold, dead hands

Hat tip to Ravnwood.

Posted on 2005-07-01 20:31:16.0 by matthew@triggerfinger.org

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