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.
The remainder of this article can be accessed at URL given above
(Excerpt) Read more at news.bbc.co.uk ...
Be kinda hard for them to take my Knives with no hands !
Wonder when ball bats are next to be banned? OOPS! I guess in England it is a cricket stick.
I really believe Monty Pythons Flying Circus is actually mainstream Brit behavior. There is little logic in the story line.
Right. Planes may disappear, but we won't have all those deaths from crashes anymore. "So we have that going for us"
(Caddyshack)
The logical extension is that, soon, the 'subjects' will be required to get government permission (and a license, no doubt) to buy table ware. So, a return to pre-civilization days of eating everything with fingers only might not be far off....
"(Of course, it probably wouldn't play very well afterwards...)"
Who would really know that it didn't play very well afterwards?
We had a bagpipe at the fifteeth Boy Scout Jamboree at Colorado Springs. You get used to it. You sort of miss it after awhile, like you do when you put a cat in a bag and swing it around your head.
Just wait until someone uses a femur to club someone over the head... then we are all in trouble...
That will be next, no doubt.
Everyone knows that sticks and stones are inherently E-VIL, just like knifes and guns!
/sarcasm
Already banned years ago, at least in some UK jurisdictions.
I'm descended from Scotish ancestors, and I love bagpipes.
However, I wouldn't be able to tell you when one might be off key.
How do you ban pointy sticks?
HEY, ENGLAND, HAVE YOU FORGOTTEN? IT'S DONE LIKE THIS...
--Boot Hill
It's already happened....
The youth of olde England scoff up so much fast food with their fingers that the dexterous use of knife and fork is a long forgotten skill.
Teenagers cannot adequately fork their peas.
It's a wonder they could successfully stab anything harder than a Sponge Bob square pants.
Citizens can't keep and bear arms. People get 2-4 years for assault. The inverse of common sense.
Oh, I'm sure the piper would know. (Well, most pipers, anyway...)
Some years ago an acquaintance, a UK resident, was attacked by two robbers who used razor blades. He fought them off while sustaining numerous cuts requiring several hundred stitches. During the fray one of the thugs was injured so my acquaintance was charged with assault. He was acquitted but only after a trial and considerable expense. He was later told by "law enforcement" that he was lucky since many thugs taped two blades together to inflict wounds that are harder to sew up and leave serious scars. Lucky him!
When they outlaw knives, only outlaws will be able to spread butter.
Um. Given that the fork goes in the left hand, shouldn't that be sinistrous (sinister) use of fork?
I guess we better make all brits grow beards. Down with shaving!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.