Posted on 11/22/2004 4:41:35 PM PST by scouse
Crackdown targets knife culture
First Minister Jack McConnell has announced a five-point programme to clamp down on knife crime.
The maximum jail term for possessing an offensive weapon will be doubled from two years to four under the proposals.
He wants to ban the sale of swords and introduce a licensing scheme for retailers selling knives.
He also announced plans to give police more powers of search and arrest and to increase the age limit for buying a knife from 16 to 18.
The new measures are being drawn up by a cabinet sub-committee chaired by Justice Minister Cathy Jamieson.
The cabinet agreed to establish the group last Wednesday when it received a stark presentation about knife crime in Glasgow from Strathclyde Police.
Offensive weapon
"We had a particular discussion on the issue of knife crime recently and we have agreed a package of measures that we will be consulting on early in the New Year," said Mr McConnell.
"We will be putting forward the action we believe is required to tackle the scandalously high level of knife crime in Scotland."
He said that 50% of the homicides in Scotland in 2002 were caused by knives or other sharp instruments.
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That is the problem. Big Brother is a big mother......
My son has an awesome three ball morning star. I think that is the correct name.
He has it hanging off of his IV/feeding pump pole, as a prank adult toy.
However it would be lethal if used up side someones head.
LOL - We would have overnight the worlds highest murder rate.
One thing I do find is though that the inherent propensity to resort to violence as a method of settling diputes does lead to higher degrees of general civility than I find in middle class England or in the US (admittedly most of my travel has been in "blue" cities. Maybe that goes along with your proposition.
Interesting thing here is that there is a lot of gun crime. It is almost exclusively organised crime factions killing each other.
Were mandatory guns coupled with a suitable make my day law, there would be a burst of deaths as the criminally inclined took dirt naps in record numbers... then calm would descend.
Sorry, I think Marmite is the brand they use in England, and Vegimite in Austrialia. I have never actually eaten the stuff, but I have heard reports from those who have.
Kind of like I have never touched my toungue to a metal flagpole on a subfreezing day.
According to my brother, who has actually seen it eaten and claims to have once even tasted it, the proper way to eat it is to spread it on bread with a butter knife, and then continue spreading it until the thinnest possible layer remains on the bread.
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