Posted on 05/13/2010 11:36:49 AM PDT by nickcarraway
Gossip Girl Taylor Momsen was today blasted by anti-violence campaigners after boasting she carries a flick-knife everywhere and even carried it on a plane.
The American actress, 16, told how she has a knife collection and 'relaxes' by opening and closing a switchblade.
She said: 'I have a knife collection. I have my favourite black knife with me all the time. It's a switchblade. 'It relaxes me to flick it. I close it and open it.'
Momsen, who is currently in London promoting her band The Pretty Reckless, went on: 'I flew from New York to Los Angeles and still had a couple of knives in my purse. I thought I took them all out but they got tucked up in the folds.
'I took them through security, took them on the plane, opened my bag to get my wallet in LA and they fell out. I was like 'holy s***',' the 16-year-old added.
But her words were condemned by campaigner Lyn Costello who said her comments were 'warped'.
The co-founder of Mothers Against Murder and Aggression said she should set a better example to young fans. Momsen, who is in the UK to promote her band The Pretty Reckless, made her comments in an interview with the Metro newspaper.
Mrs Costello criticised the US TV star and said: 'When they're put up as a teenage icon or any kind of idol they have to think about what they're saying.
'We're losing our teenagers on a high scale to knife crime. I'd rather they were saying don't have a knife and I certainly am quite appalled by her saying "I sit and play with it to relax me".
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
Well said! And it’s not a ‘switch blade’ - i.e. an auto-opening knife - we’re talking about here, but a one-handed knife, where a thumb stud or similar is used to deploy the blade.
My EDC is a Chris Reeve Sebenza. Arguably the best folder on the market. And I consider it a tool rather than a weapon.
A knife is one of the oldest tools known to mankind. It has many uses. Only the mindset makes it into a weapon.
Sadly, the UK has gone down the deep end on that topic as well. No guns = knives. No knives = forks(?). No forks = pointed sticks. No pointed sticks = fresh fruit (Monty Python). Etc. Major FAIL to recognize it’s the people, not the objects.
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