BRITAIN'S "KNIFE CULTURE"

In its latest and broadest attempt to get knives off the streets and especially out of the hands of young people, the British government announced a nationwide knife amnesty program, says USA Today. Police hope to collect 30,000 knives that will be turned in at police stations, churches, supermarkets and schools around the country.

** Of the 839 homicides in England and Wales in the 12 months ending Nov. 28 -- the most recent period for which Home Office figures are available -- 29 percent involved sharp instruments including knives, blades and swords.

** Firearms account for just 9 percent of murders in Britain. The murder rate in Britain is 15 per million people.

** In contrast, the U.S. murder rate is 55 per million, according to the FBI. Of those, 70 percent of murders were committed with firearms; just 14 percent involved knives or cutting instruments.

** In London alone, there were 12,589 knife-related crimes last year. Police say the people most likely to carry knives are males ages 15 to 18.

The House of Lords is considering a crime-reduction bill that would raise the minimum age to buy a knife from 16 to 18, give teachers the power to physically search students and mandate jail time for possessing a knife without cause. In the meantime, officials hope setting up collection bins across the country during the amnesty will raise awareness and help reduce knife attacks.

Norman Brennan, director of the Victims of Crime Trust, calls the amnesty program, "no more than a public relations exercise." The victims' rights advocacy group proposes tougher penalties, including a mandatory five-year prison sentence for anyone possessing a knife.

Source: César G. Soriano, "Amnesty Program Takes Aim at UK's 'Knife Culture,'" USA Today, May 31, 2005.

Good grief - first they banned guns, then, of course the bad guys turn to other weapons - knives.

Now, a lot of folk are gonna turn in knives for cash - probably steal a lot of knives to turn in...

"including a mandatory five-year prison sentence for anyone possessing a knife.

So then the bad guys will find another weapon -

It ain't the guns. It ain't the knives.

It's the people! If they're violent and prone to hurt someone - they will find a weapon.

What's next? Somebody beans someone with a fire poker, a rock - "ban all rocks!" - etc., and and nauseum etc

I predict a mass exodus of chefs from London.

Come to think of it - Professional chefs carry their own knives with them from place to place - they can cost from $300 to thousands - in cases, rather like a professional pool player.

My granddaughter is starting college this fall - and taking cooking. She is required to have a professional knife - the ones named start at $300...one knife.

So will chefs have to get personal dispensation? /s

There have been quite serious movements toward restriction of kitchen knives recently.

right here in the US

A college student, honors, couple years ago, was arrested for having a butter knife in the back seat of her car - she was moving into the dorm and it was part of her stuff. She was suspended, etc etc...

Thus quoteth the College dumbheads: It's our zero tolerance policy"

After reading the stats posted here, I went on a fact finding mission. As near as I can find, you can get a picture from the following.

BBC News reported "a dramatic rise in violent crime" from 1998 to 1999 as revealed by
the British Home Office's July crime report. Violence against persons rose by 16%,
and sexual offenses rose by 4.5%. The robbery rate skyrocketed by 26%, adding to a
total violent crime rate increase of 16% in a single year.
In Australia,
Though lawmakers responsible for passing the ban promised a safer country, the
nation's crime statistics tell a different story:
Countrywide, homicides are up 3.2 percent;
Assaults are up 8.6 percent;
Amazingly, armed robberies have climbed nearly 45 percent;
In the Australian state of Victoria, gun homicides have climbed 300 percent;
In the 25 years before the gun bans, crime in Australia had been dropping steadily;
There has been a reported "dramatic increase" in home burglaries and assaults on the
elderly.

In contrast to near-complete bans in Australia and Great Britain, many U.S. states have passed liberal concealed carry laws that allow private citizens to obtain a permit to carry a loaded gun at all times in most public places. According to Yale University researcher John R. Lott, formerly of the University of Chicago and a gun control analyst who has conducted the most extensive study on the impact of concealed carry laws in the nation's history, the more liberal the right to carry, the less violent crime occurs.

Lott, who examined a mass of crime data spanning decades in all 3,200-plus counties in the United States, concluded that the most important factor in the deterrence of violent crimes were increased police presence and longer jail sentences. However, his research also demonstrated that liberal concealed carry laws were at the top of the list of reasons violent crime has dropped steadily since those laws began to be enacted by state legislatures a decade ago.

Lott's research indicates the criminal element has been successful in obtaining weapons despite widespread bans and gun control laws, while HCI continues to push for more laws that further restrict, license or eliminate handguns and long guns.

Can you guess which side of the fence I'm on?

From my cold dead hands.....
Snikks

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