Posted on 06/16/2006 10:42:05 AM PDT by dennisw
Knife amnesty nets 17,700 weapons Over 17,700 weapons were handed in during the first week of the national knives amnesty, the Home Office said. Machetes, meat cleavers and axes as well as knives were among the haul of 17,715 surrendered to the 43 police forces across England and Wales.
Home office minister Vernon Coaker said the results were "encouraging".
The five-week amnesty, running until 30 June, allows people to surrender knives at police stations without fear of punishment.
Mr Coaker urged those who had not yet handed in their weapons to do so.
"The initial figures for the first week of that campaign are very encouraging, " he said.
"That is 17,715 fewer weapons that can be used in a crime against ordinary, law-abiding citizens.
"If you carry a knife out of self-defence, you run the risk of having it turned on you. Carrying a knife is illegal and will not be tolerated. It could land you four years in prison"
'Significant step'
As well as knives, Devon and Cornwall police also received an 8lb anti-tank rocket launcher, known as a "tankbuster", which has a range of up to 350 metres.
A force spokesman said: "The amnesty is for all weapons and if someone wants to get rid of a rocket launcher, that's fine by us."
Devon and Cornwall's assistant chief constable, Tony Melville, who is also a member of the Association of Chief Police Officers, said the haul was "a significant step towards making our streets safer".
The initiative, running in England, Wales and Scotland comes amid growing concern at the level of knife crime in the wake of a series of fatal stabbings.
Police say that from 1 July tough action will be taken on those found armed with knives.
However, some families of victims of knife crime have questioned the effectiveness of an amnesty, calling instead for tougher sentencing.
Last month 15-year-old Kiyan Prince died from a stab wound after being attacked outside his school in Edgware, north London.
And last week Alex Mulumba Kamondo, also 15, died after being knifed through the heart during a street fight in Lambeth, south London.
The British tyrants think that the right to possess knives as "part of any national costume" is more important than the right of knives for self-defense, or the right of British citizens to possess knives for daily use (which seems to me to be a requisite aspect of their dignity as human beings) or for their collective value. This just shows how PC informs the worldview of the rulemakers, and demonstrates that they have no respect for the balance-of-power relationship between the government and the people.
Was over there recently and there were two stabbings in the same week (was the week MI5 was knocking down doors looking for imaginary chemical vests..). BBC did a special on knives and everyone they talked to sounded quite upset the conviction rate of those just caught with knives out in public was only 13-14%. What really shocked me is five years if you're caught in public without 'a good reason'? Define good reason. Walking some side streets in the evening was 'good reason' to carry a knife if you ask me
I got locked up once for "Running With Scissors".
Anyone caught urinating while standing will be prosecuted.
What's next for our friends across the pond, Housewives & Chefs having to register their knives?
We are getting there. I expect any day now I'll need a permit to replace my screwdrivers. Oh, what about my chain saw? (boy, will my trees be happy) Going out in the workshop and make a good hiding place for my ax. Gosh, I sure love that ax. Think they will go for my sledge hammer? Well looks like I'll never build again. Whoops forgot my pinch (crow) bars. Makes a tire iron look like nothing. Oh, damn, now I gave it away. Well good by tire iron. Guess time to lock and load. Damn, did it again.
I may have to open a knife store here in Orlando for all the Brits ... do they x-ray arriving baggage at Heathrow? Every day it seems like more and more of a certainty that we're going to have to save Europe AGAIN...
P.S. The way I read the law you can still have a large folding knife (well over 3" in blade length) as long as only the tip and the first 3" of the blade are sharpened...
"How about knives? They're quiet."
If our friends on that side of the ocean can't purchase decent knives, they just might need to turn to a decent supplier over here! Oddly enough, one of the coolest cutlery/knife stores I've ever visited in my life can be found in Vienna, Austria a couple of blocks from the Hotel Kumar.
Elvira Lorenzi Messerschmied/Meisterbetries - Verklauf & Schleifservice
Siebensterng 41
A-1070 Wien, AUSTRIATel. +43(1)5262187
Fax +43(1)5269500
e-mail: elvira.lorenzi@chello.at
~ Blue Jays ~
Oh no. Is that a kitchen knife I see on the table? Tremble. Shake. Terror. I need to purge my kitchen drawers now. And the green plastic bottle just scares me to death. Imagine the horror of getting bonked over the head with it. It might momentarily contort itself into the shape of my head! Tremble. Shake. Fear...
hmmm Lt. Worf will not be turning in his batleth however.
I notice a lot of kitchen knives in that photo.
Don't these people have wood burning fireplaces?
How are they supposed to chop their wood???
The Oxford Dictionary of the English Language has over 500,000 headwords. We are told that the "word is mightier than the sword" which makes them weapons... so I am going to turn in a dictionary.
That will really give them a boost to their statistics...
There, fixed it for you...
Well I got a Baretta .32 Tomcat for my 21st b'day ... plus an NRA membership .....
regards,
jane
Such temporary cosmetic solutions have been deemed inadequate to safeguard the public. Permanent removal of all fingernails and toenails by surgical matrixectomy is now mandatory.
Following declawing, certain additional dental procedures will be required.
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