Posted on 03/12/2004 12:09:38 PM PST by neverdem
New law to ban swords Peter Mickelburough, state politics reporter 09mar04
SWORDS will be outlawed from July under new laws to curb the growing use of the weapons in street brawls.
Police Minister Andre Haermeyer said the ban would help police overcome a culture of young people arming themselves with swords. "For most people running around the street carrying swords there is absolutely no reason for them to be carrying those weapons," he said yesterday.
From July, anyone found possessing or selling a sword without a permit will face up to six months' jail and fines of up to $12,000.
Existing sword owners must surrender their weapons to police, sell them to a licensed dealer or apply to the Chief Commissioner for specific approval.
Collectors and people with legitimate cultural, religious or military reasons to own swords will be exempted from the ban, but must store them under lock and key and have a burglar alarm.
The sword ban follows a string of recent attacks and a regulatory impact statement undertaken by the State Government last year.
Last week, a 13-year-old boy was arrested and charged after allegedly charging police with a sword near Castlemaine, in central Victoria.
A 21-year-old man had his hand severed by a samurai sword in a confrontation between 40 men in the Fitzroy Gardens a fortnight ago -- the second brawl involving swords in 24 hours.
Huy Huynh, 19, was chased from the Salt nightclub and hacked to death nearby in July 2002 by a mob using samurai swords and machetes.
The new laws will make it illegal to sell swords to anyone who does not have a permit.
Sword sellers will have to keep a register of buyers' details and make it available for police to inspect.
Mr Haermeyer said groups such as highland dancers, historic re-enactment groups, bonafide collectors and people with family heirlooms could apply for an exemption from the licensing services branch of Victoria Police.
"Legitimate sword owners understand the importance of ensuring that their swords do not fall into the wrong hands," he said.
"The vast majority of the community would say, 'Look, there's no place for people just being able to go out there and buy these things and carry them around the street'."
Mr Haermeyer said the exact definition of a sword under the new regulations was still being considered.
He said machetes would remain a controlled weapon, requiring a person to have a legitimate reason for carrying them.
The Government is also looking at bans on some other weapons, such as crossbows, and greater restriction on the sale of prohibited and regulated weapons at weekend markets.
Mr Haermeyer warned that police would be actively hunting for knives and swords after being given new powers and 480 metal detectors late last year, allowing them to search people they reasonably suspected were carrying weapons.
privacy © Herald and Weekly Times © AFP
I absolutely agree! The only proper response when confronted with a sword-wielding maniac is to lie prone and let him hack you to death.
No doubt made possible by Aussie bureaucrats standing between this poor guy and a decent semiautomatic firearm.
Don't forget that the Aussies descend from prisoners of the Crown. The whole dang country with the exception of the aborigines, is nothing but one big former penal colony.
Not to take away anything from the Austrailian army, with whom I had the pleasure of training in the 1980's. I got the distinct feeling then that the Aussies didn't respect their own military, much as my friends in the SAS in Britain feel disrespected by their socialist populace.
The government "Down Under," like most globally oriented governments (including those elements in our own gov't) just don't "get it." Forget swords, guns or explosives. The mind, coupled with an indomitable will to be free becomes the most lethal weapon ever devised. Properly employed, a rolled up newspaper can become a deadly weapon.
I carry a rolled up front page of the Miami Herald everywhere I go in my inner city school. I have been threatened multiple times by gangstas I have gotten expelled from school, by other various vermin with whom I refuse to yield control of my classroom. A rolled up paper would give me the tactical edge I need to carry the day. Then I could just unroll it and put it in a trash can, all nice and bloodsoaked. My Aikido sensei did the exact same thing when he was jumped by a gang on his way through a local park. The cops who responded said that they looked like they'd been tangling with a chain saw. Sensei just rolled his eyes innocently and held out his open palms.
However, there is no doubt that currently your ruling party and a majority of your government is globalist and NWO oriented. They would perfectly align themselves with our Democraps and any Kerry Administration. Just because you happen to be currently breaking Aussie law (and so would I; were I you) doesn't mean your country hasn't lost their weapons. I understand that the ruling faction is considering bans on swords, knives and clubs. My God, living in your country outside the cities and disarmed is like a death sentence. I mean (IIRC from my survival school days) aren't a majority of the worlds deadliest animals native to your soil in terms of say SNAKES? What's the crime rate in rural areas?
BTW, I happen to agree with your assessment of our population, sad to say. ~sigh~
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