Posted on 11/23/2022 12:39:27 PM PST by Black_Rifle_Gunsmith
We continue to see politicians drudge up long-debunked arguments about how gun control somehow reduces violent crime. It isn't true, which is why, for example, the infamous 1994 Assault Weapons Ban was allowed to expire.
Finally, we're seeing courts and judges rule reasonably in favor of Second Amendment rights, and even demographics once considered "anti-gun" -- like young adults and people of color -- are warming to the idea of exercising their Second Amendment rights.
But the question remains, why do politicians stick to such a rigid, repetitive script on guns? Casual observers would argue this is relatively new, with gun control having gained steam in the media's eye only within the past 30, perhaps 40 years.
But the formula politicians use to attack gun rights is merely an evolution of the same Hoplophobia (that's an irrational fear of weapons) that was wielded as a political tool to ban knives so many decades ago. Like the automatic knife, more commonly known as the switchblade.
In the 1950s, there was a widespread perception that switchblade knives were the tool of thugs and juvenile delinquents. In the late 1950s and early 1960s, switchblades were banned, or severely restricted, in almost every state. New York, for example, banned switchblades in 1954. In a few other states, there are such severe restrictions on switchblades so as to be effectively banned.
In most other states, switchblades are illegal to buy, sell, or transfer and are considered deadly weapons. In recent years, however, several states and the federal government have reduced these restrictions.
Oregon legalized switchblades in 1984, Florida in 2003, New Hampshire in 2010, and Missouri in 2012. In 2010, Arizona legalized the carrying of deadly weapons, including switchblades, which had been legal to own but not to carry.
Opponents of these knife laws argue that many laws are so vague as to what is legal or illegal that innocent people commit crimes without knowing. Sound familiar? Like, perhaps, the policies and legal interpretations of a certain federal agency whose name is abbreviated "ATF"?
Supporters of knife bans counter that knives are dangerous weapons and getting them off the street can only make society safer. Sounds eerily like the average anti-gun politician, who claims that banning a firearm in common use on paper will, somehow, suddenly stop that firearm from being used in a crime -- or that criminals won't simply choose to use any other implement to carry out a crime.
But when switchblades were effectively banned under federal law in 1958, there were six million of them estimated to be in circulation. For the years 1957 and 1958, there were an average of 8,145 homicides, 71,210 robberies, and 112,235 aggravated assaults.
Even assuming that half of all these crimes used knives, and further assuming that every knife used was a switchblade, there would have been 95,795 violent crimes involving switchblades. In this case, only 1.6% of switchblades could be claimed to have been used in murder, assault, or robbery. In fact, the use rate was almost certainly well under 1%.
This all sounds quite a lot like the claims politicians make about firearms today: That, for one example, a certain type of semiautomatic rifle -- of which tens of millions are in circulation -- is a "weapon for the battlefield," or, "a tool of mass-destruction" when, in fact, a truly minuscule percent of those firearms are used to commit violent crime.
Our local rag already changed the narrative on the last two shootings. Not a mention of either shooter because the REAL problem is the guns themselves and the only solution is to ban them completely.
Possession of firearms is basically illegal in Britain...and has been for some time.
So now you hear in Parliament calls for legislation on *knife* crime! I kid you not!
When knives are outlawed there will it then be cricket bats?
Also, things that are blunt are banned, and things that are heavy are banned, and things that are blunt AND heavy are RIGHT OUT AS WELL!!!
Well, lets see... that about cover it then???
Gibbs rule #9 - Always carry a knife.
After that, sharpened Oral-B toothbrush ban.
Never mind, it’s Britain...
Stupid legislators actually think a bunch of faggots in leather jackets dancing in an alley with $5 switchblades mirrors reality.
It was a sort of proof of concept that the media, influenced by political, illogical, and emotional claims, could get legislation passed that accomplished nothing but make millions of people into illegal possessors.
They did it.
Next up, gun control...
They made much "progress" on that front...
It was an extension of laws enacted in 2011 or so allowing one-armed people and emergency rescue people to carry automatic knives.
It is illegal to carry concealed a switchblade, Bowie knife or dangerous knife in Maine.
Oddly enough, a resident 21 or older (or 18 or older if military or a vet) can carry concealed a handgun if it's legal for them to possess one.
Back when I was a teenager i6 bought a really nice steleto type switchblade.
Carried it my pocket in school and showed my classmates how it worked.
Really loved the “snick” sound it made as I opened and closed the blade.
But as time went I carried less and less.
It’s basically a glorified letter opener now.
Gallantry and chivalry is dead, and instead we have government “security benefits” “equally distributed”.
Suckers
Guns aee not only an individual but also an ethnic militia right. Gun control is synonymous with ethnic racist hatred as a result - assumed.
And instead of havung chivalry on their side, the gays want equality from the government. Even the most effeminate and homosexual authors of the past were heavily in favor of chivalry. Greeka were extremely chivalrous in both physical, aesthetics and intellectuality.
Communist and sociaists are the ones who have destroyed any semblance of respect for gays. The government is disarming them and promising them sexual redistribution equal rights biscuits. Ugly feminists and disgusting schizo slobs called gays (and not real homosexuals) get to dominate the talk.
England is snitch central
A friend gave me a high end Gerber automatic knife.
The laws in maryland are so weird. You cannot carry a switchblade with the intent to harm someone. How does one prove intent?
How about fists? Lots of killings are done by beating someone to death. Perhaps it could be made illegal to ever close your hand into a fist. Having your hands in your pockets might then be “concealed carry.”
LOL
In the City of Seattle, with two exceptions, carrying any fixed blade is illegal.
Chefs may carry fixed blades while traveling to or from their place of work as long as the knifes are in a chef’s knife box.
Also, you can have a fishing knife or camping knife if you are headed to or from a fishing trip or camping trip as long as the knives are stored in the tackle box or backpack.
Unofficially, hobos and drug addicts are also an exception, especially if they are openly carrying machetes.
CA oddly enough, Has no limit as long as its either a fixed blade or a manual folder.
Fixed blades are required to carry open. Any knife can be open carried as long as its in a fixed position. It is legal to carry machetes or swords open as well.
I have a manual folding Ruger knife with a 8.35 inch blade. It is legal to conceal in CA as its a manual folding knife. Knife is illegal to carry in Texas as far as I was told back in 2016. That may have changed.
I believe switchblade knives should be banned, but not for the reason you think.
Switchblades can be bought at local flea markets and they’re all crap.
The spring wears out within days or the safety catch fails, and the knives open in your pocket while walking.
I’ve bought dozens of switchblades, and they’re all junk.
There is no quality control in the manufacture of switchblades.
You can buy the parts to assemble your own, but the parts are made in China.
I think I found the problem.
I am constantly amused by Democrats contorting themselves trying to portray themselves as pro-hunting but anti high powered “assault rifles”, never realizing that your average 30-06, among other popular hunting calibers, is much more powerful than 5.56/.223 ammo. My other pet peeve is the role state governments have re: gun regulation. Why do states have any say so over a Constitutionally guaranteed right? They do not have power over any other of the Bill of Rights.
In Britain, it is illegal to: sell a knife of any kind (including cutlery and kitchen knives) to anyone under 18. carry a knife in public without good reason – unless it’s a knife with a folding blade 3 inches long (7.62 cm) or less. The penalty is up to 4 years in prison or an unlimited fine.
There are knife turn-in kiosks on street corners.
Oh, by the way, that cricket bat may well be a banned offensive weapon...hammers are already included in the definition.
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