Posted on 03/08/2006 7:52:54 AM PST by Travis McGee
They have the heft of an ax, a blade nearly as long as a sword, and the intimidation power to make the hair stand up on the back of your neck.
Cheap and easily bought, machetes in America have commonly been reserved for underbrush and sugar-cane cutting. But now, in a spreading trend that so far has drawn little national attention, criminals are using machetes as weapons, striking fear in cities and towns across the country.
Witness these recent incidents:
In the heartland Indiana city of Evansville in February, a robber pulled a machete on a convenience-store cashier, who put up no fight when the bad guy demanded the cash box.
In Corpus Christi, Texas, a 22-year-old gang member pleaded guilty in January to the machete slaying of an 82-year-old man in a drug-addled attack.
And in Greenville, N.J., during a Jan. 20 argument over a borrowed drill, a suspect known as "Shy" slashed an apartment resident so severely with a machete that the victim's shinbone broke.
Although machete-related crimes are occurring from Florida to Washington state and Maine to California, they have only recently begun to reach the radar screens of law-enforcement and government officials nationwide. No official count of the incidence of such crimes exists.
While they are more common in places with sizable Latin American and Caribbean immigrant populations, machete offenses also are cropping up elsewhere. In February alone, crimes involving machetes were reported in San Jose, Calif.; Atlantic City, N.J.; Republic, Wash.; Tampa, Fla.; and Mount Pleasant, Mich. While some of the suspects and victims in those cases had Hispanic or "Island" surnames, others did not. Abetting the spread is the wide availability and low cost of the tool. A machete with a 21-inch-long blade can be bought at most home-improvement stores for $10, sometimes less.
One jurisdiction that is wrestling with machete problem is Fairfax County, Va., a sprawling suburb of Washington. Police there have tallied more than 110 machete cases in recent years. Most were linked to gangs, particularly the notorious and fast-expanding Latino gang Mara Salvatrucha, whose members have been identified in more than two-dozen states. Also known as MS-13, the ga ng has adopted machetes as the weapon of choice, at least partly because of the fear the blades engender with their implied threat of gruesome wounds or even death.
"In the last 10 years, we've seen an increasing number of horrific attacks with machetes," Fairfax County Police Maj. Frank Wernlein told a state legislative committee last month.
One of the worst was the 2005 assault on a 24-year-old man who was jumped by several MS-13 members when leaving a movie theater. An attacker, who was since convicted, sliced off three of the victim's fingers. "They're vicious attacks that cause a great deal of fear," said Virginia House of Delegates member Vivian Watts, one of the few legislators in the country to push for new laws to combat machete-related crime. Watts, who is sponsoring a bill to make it unlawful to brandish a machete with the intent to intimidate, said the machete menace quickly took root in her area, and she warned that the same could happen in other parts of the country.
"In a very short period of time, the use of machetes has become a very serious problem," she said this week. That was the case as well in the Boston area, where a rise in gang violence involving machetes occurred in the past several years. The surrounding towns of Revere, Everett, Lynn and Chelsea have banned machetes, and there is now a bill before the Massachusetts Senate that would prohibit the carrying, sale and manufacture of the tool-turned-weapon.
Law-enforcement experts say that localities with large numbers of immigrants from Latin and Caribbean countries _ where machetes are ubiquitous and commonly imbued with symbolism _ are likely to witness more machete-related offenses.
Bill Johnson, a former prosecutor in Miami in the late 1980s, said that was the case in that city after a mass influx of Haitians occurred when he was there. "My observation was that it was a cultural thing," said Johnson, now executive director of the National Association of Police Organizations.
Alex del Carmen, a criminology professor at the University of Texas at Arlington, agreed. Long a part of daily life in Latin America, where they are considered the tool _ and weapon _ of the poor, machetes became the symbol of the power of the peasantry after their use in revolts against Spanish rule and in the 1959 communist revolution in Cuba. Del Carmen said that romantic history might also add to the allure of the weapon and its spread. But he said it is the machete's inherent menace that is its greatest draw.
"It's very intimidating, particularly in places where you haven't seen them very much before," del Carmen said.
the machete makes a decent weapon, but it has nothing on my wakizashi... or my M1911A1.
these gangs would have no traction in this country if the law abiding had not been so well indoctrinated to be helpless sheeple.
My "Cold Steel" Kukri came with an interesting history of that blade. It basically said the design was used by Greek Soldiers in Alexander the Great's army. When they invaded India, the locals saw it and liked the shape. Now it is common in India and of course Nepal.
It is probably a good fighting weapon but the ones I see are too short for combat imo. I think they make a fairly decent all around fighting knife and chopping tool but generally are far inferior to the common machete for most purposes.
Why should it be of interest to me? The courts here not established any law stating that these are legal in public.
Been there, done that...
The surrounding towns of Revere, Everett, Lynn and Chelsea have banned machetes, and there is now a bill before the Massachusetts Senate that would prohibit the carrying, sale and manufacture of the tool-turned-weapon.
Excellent. I can imagine things getting better almost immediately.
(SETTING: Your local Massachusetts MS-13 hangout.)
MS-13 BANGER : Say fellows, let's go out and raise some heck! (brandishes machete)
MS-13 LEADER: I don't think so, my friend. Perhaps you haven't noticed, but our elected representatives have prohibited the carrying of that machete. You'd best put that away.
MS-13 BANGER: Aw, shucks. Well, I guess we can just hang out here tonight, then.
Lovely.
I figured you may have an interest in knives and other bladed tools...not just the laws associated with them.
~ Blue Jays ~
Well guess what. You figured wrong. Of course, not the first time.
You're welcome. Enjoy the thread.
~ Blue Jays ~
I have two machetes and they are great tools for cutting brush and hacking at other plant world nuisances. Machetes are well designed blades and do the the job intended. It isn't my fault if feral 3rd worlders have adopted it as a weapon of choice and hack away at ears, lips and limbs
Lots of kukris on sale at ebay:
http://search.ebay.com/search/search.dll?cgiurl=http%3A%2F%2Fcgi.ebay.com%2Fws%2F&fkr=1&from=R8&satitle=kukri&category0=
For sixty bucks one can get spare parts (stock, trigger assembly, assembled bolt (handle, firing pin and extractor), and bolt spring), another sixty bucks for a brand new barrel and mag well; and another two hundred bucks the tubular receiver with the key cut outs 80 percent cut (do not remove cut outs, because it is a violation of firearm laws). Sten mags are dirt cheap and 9mm bullets are available. All these components can be sitting in one's garage/secret storage and assembled at a small machine shop if one wants to be in legal hotwater. A MACHETE is easier and cheaper to make. Flat steel, a grinder, two pieces of flat wood and a good grommet punch kit is all one needs.
I looked at those on eBay. Most of them are pretty much junk. The Cold Steel, at least most of them listed, are not their regular Kukri which sells for near $200. The ones listed are cheap stamped ones made in South Africa, and sold by Cold Steel. They are pretty good for the price but I still had rather buy an Ontario U.S. surplus machete for around the same price.
http://www.theonion.com/content/node/27976
........:o)
Ah, multicultural diversity--ain't it wonderful...
Around here, we have our own personalized "welcome" for any of these banana republic thugs that show up looking for trouble.
Just chopping up people that Americans are too lazy to chop.
And they continue pouring into the country even as I type, while our government does next to NOTHING about it.
Grrrrr....
Lots of Brazilian made machetes here in Florida. I have one of those. My China made machete isn't as good. I'm sticking with machetes
I once bought a Collins with a 22 inch blade. It was almost useless as it vibrated every time I hit anything even slightly hard. I cut it down to 18" and it was ok then.
The U.S. made Ontario really are the best I have found. If you can find one of the surplus sheaths which include a carbide sharpener, it is worth the extra cost.
I was working at a state park one Summer and led hikes along a nature trail. One night a tree blew down across the trail. the next day I cut it in two in 2 different places using a machete. It was maybe 20" in diameter and took awhile but the machete did the job.
I'll look for one. I can tell you revere machetes same as I do. We have a huge 3rd world population here (South Florida) thus at the largest flea market they have guys selling 5 different styles of machetes made in Brazil. I don't understand the variations but I assume each one is better suited to certain agricultural and rural tasks.
That must have been a real workout. Most I've lopped off are 4" diameter branches
"The MS-13 gang members are just misunderstood. They had bad childhoods. They were not breast fed. /sarcasm off"
Well, you forgot about the fact that it is all Bushes fault, no goverment supplied internet, lack of affordable healthcare, And the fact that these children are forced to rob to buy tne latest x-box games that racist price out ot thier reach (sarcasm of as well)
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