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New law to ban swords
The Herald Sun(Australia) ^ | 09mar04 | Peter Mickelburough

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


TOPICS: Australia/New Zealand; Culture/Society; Extended News; Foreign Affairs; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: bang; banglist; machete; sword
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To: softengine
I waded through every single post to make sure I wasn't duplicating someone with a witty take on "Highlander" and the sword!

I was correct in my thinking! Well done!
121 posted on 03/13/2004 12:56:19 AM PST by Fledermaus (Do I have to resign from the VRWC to join the new RAM: Republican Attack Machine???)
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To: neverdem

122 posted on 03/13/2004 6:09:35 AM PST by b4its2late (Place your clothes and weapons where you can find them in the dark!)
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To: neverdem
Those who live by the sword... get shot by those who don't.
123 posted on 03/13/2004 6:11:40 AM PST by b4its2late (Place your clothes and weapons where you can find them in the dark!)
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To: neverdem
This would drive the Aussie Government nuts.

American Tomahawk Company.

124 posted on 03/13/2004 6:24:36 AM PST by SC Swamp Fox (Aim small, miss small.)
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To: neverdem
"For most people running around the street carrying swords there is absolutely no reason for them to be carrying those weapons," he said yesterday.

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.

125 posted on 03/13/2004 10:29:24 AM PST by Tolerance Sucks Rocks (Hi, I'm Sydney Biddle-Barrows, and this is Whore Stories!)
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To: neverdem
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.

No doubt made possible by Aussie bureaucrats standing between this poor guy and a decent semiautomatic firearm.

126 posted on 03/13/2004 10:34:39 AM PST by Tolerance Sucks Rocks (Hi, I'm Sydney Biddle-Barrows, and this is Whore Stories!)
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To: Salve Regina
" I cannot imagine the Aussies being that de-balled."

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.

127 posted on 03/13/2004 1:46:10 PM PST by ExSoldier (When the going gets tough, the tough go cyclic.)
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To: Redcoat LI
Australia will never be safe until they license the most deadly hand-held weapon of all:

The Dreaded Spork!


We don't call 'em sporks .. we call 'em splayds.

And the only ones you ever see are plastic ones, served in shopping-centre food-courts.

And they break on lemon chicken, so are not consiered dangerous :-)

128 posted on 03/13/2004 4:53:54 PM PST by sadimgnik
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To: armed_in_sydney
Got your freepmail. Sorry if you feel "insulted." That was not my intent. I hereby formally retract the "descended from convicts" comment. You point out that less than 1% of todays Aussies are of that lineage. I'll accept that. IIRC, I said that when I trained with the Aussie army in the 1980's I got the feeling they weren't well treated but I could be wrong. Certainly I do know for a fact that the British army is extremely disrespected by their socialists...ummm er subjects (not citizens). And that's today, not then. I have a close friend who is a fellow Free and Accepted Mason from UK, and a member of the RAF. I hear all sorts of horror stories.

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~

129 posted on 03/17/2004 12:48:46 PM PST by ExSoldier (When the going gets tough, the tough go cyclic.)
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To: neverdem
Bump to find my way back here.
130 posted on 03/18/2004 2:24:59 PM PST by TC Rider (The United States Constitution © 1791. All Rights Reserved.)
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