British police calling for knife ban

originally posted by: nonspecific

In a country where that right is not given the need to is on the whole removed is it not?

Looks good on paper, but there are people who do not care about laws, rights etc and they do as they will. Guns are banned in Chicago as example, but from 10 June to 18 June 17 people were killed by guns in that city. The bottom line here is even when we look at 15,000 killed per year by guns, if there were zero guns in America that number would most likely be a little lower but not much, and we are going to dicker over a few thousand out of 310,000,000 people when there are 100s of other things that kill a lot more people.

a reply to: Xtrozero

Different country different culture about weapons and society in general.

Would the people who don't want handguns to be legal be prepared to compromise on non or less than lethal defensive items like tasers or pepper spray? What if it required enhanced CRB, fingerprint registration and certification to buy and keep a taser in the home in a locker or similar restrictions for purchasing carryable pepper spray?


At the moment all you can carry legally is a dye spray that stains the person's skin which seems ridiculous to me. Not much use in stopping a rape or a mugging and is likely to just cause annoyance to the attacker which may increase the level of violence in the situation.

a reply to: butcherguy

This isn't a matter of freedom but a matter of public safety.
I don't really want this to become a matter of USA v UK but if you have to bring freedom into it then I'd suggest that you are easily the least free country in the developed world.

For a start, there isn't a knife ban as many have already stated and there isn't even any suggestion of one happening and secondly the people of the UK don't want to make it easier for people to can weapons around with them that will just up the ante.

a reply to: MagnaCarta2015

Or just punch em in the nads?.

a reply to: nonspecific

I didn't mean to infer that you called me a slasher.

The best way to open them is actually with a tin opener.

I carry knives in my pockets. I often have three of them on my person.
I don't carry a tin opener. If I buy something in a store, sometimes I need to open it right away... especially if my children just had me purchase it.

a reply to: butcherguy

We can carry folding blades upto 3 inch, swiss army stuff perfectly legal.

a reply to: butcherguy

I would have to take a tin opener and hope if searched I could satisfy the reasoning for having it on my person in public.

originally posted by: MagnaCarta2015
Would the people who don't want handguns to be legal be prepared to compromise on non or less than lethal defensive items like tasers or pepper spray? What if it required enhanced CRB, fingerprint registration and certification to buy and keep a taser in the home in a locker or similar restrictions for purchasing carryable pepper spray?


At the moment all you can carry legally is a dye spray that stains the person's skin which seems ridiculous to me. Not much use in stopping a rape or a mugging and is likely to just cause annoyance to the attacker which may increase the level of violence in the situation.

And yet again you have totally missed the point of weapon control in the UK.
If you allow people to buy weapons such as tasers or spray or guns then the chances of anybody that wants to mug or rape you also having these weapons is pretty high too.
Thus the chances of you sustaining serious injury or being fatally wounded increase hugely.
Then the police would have to carry even more weapons and then we could possibly end up like the USA and have police running round shooting people needlessly.

Currently if somebody breaks into my house, the chances of them having a firearm are almost zero. Therefore it's me and my bat versus them and their knife or bat or similar and I have a far lower chance of dying.

Our weapon control laws make the best of a bad situation.

originally posted by: neformore
a reply to: NavyDoc

Obvious troll is obvious.

You are the one who stepped in with the "STFU different cultures" rap.

originally posted by: b14warrior

originally posted by: MagnaCarta2015
Would the people who don't want handguns to be legal be prepared to compromise on non or less than lethal defensive items like tasers or pepper spray? What if it required enhanced CRB, fingerprint registration and certification to buy and keep a taser in the home in a locker or similar restrictions for purchasing carryable pepper spray?


At the moment all you can carry legally is a dye spray that stains the person's skin which seems ridiculous to me. Not much use in stopping a rape or a mugging and is likely to just cause annoyance to the attacker which may increase the level of violence in the situation.

And yet again you have totally missed the point of weapon control in the UK.
If you allow people to buy weapons such as tasers or spray or guns then the chances of anybody that wants to mug or rape you also having these weapons is pretty high too.
Thus the chances of you sustaining serious injury or being fatally wounded increase hugely.
Then the police would have to carry even more weapons and then we could possibly end up like the USA and have police running round shooting people needlessly.

Currently if somebody breaks into my house, the chances of them having a firearm are almost zero. Therefore it's me and my bat versus them and their knife or bat or similar and I have a far lower chance of dying.

Our weapon control laws make the best of a bad situation.

Right. So a granny is SOL unless she can swing a baseball bat, eh?

originally posted by: butcherguy

originally posted by: nonspecific

originally posted by: butcherguy
a reply to: nonspecific

Why is this so unreasonable?

Freedom is the answer that comes to mind.

Freedom to what exactly?

Can you give me a good reason to carry a handgun in the UK?

To protect yourself from knife wielding criminals.

That's hilarious.
Your best idea to stop knife crime is to give people guns.......... guns that will often end up in the hands of those that were committing the knife crime in the first place........ and up go the chances of you dying in a confrontation.
You don't see the irony in your suggestion is baffling.

originally posted by: NavyDoc
Right. So a granny is SOL unless she can swing a baseball bat, eh?

You're kidding, right? UK grannies are ninjas just like the rest of 'em over there.

a reply to: NavyDoc

Nah ours only need a handbag.

originally posted by: b14warrior
Currently if somebody breaks into my house, the chances of them having a firearm are almost zero.

Agreed, same for me.

Therefore it's me and my bat versus them and their knife or bat or similar and I have a far lower chance of dying.

It's me and my legally held crossbow stood at the top of the stairs if thieves break into my home. Then follow up incidental weapons such as baseball bat, claw hammer, and wrecking bars which happen to be laying around various places in my house.

Our weapon control laws make the best of a bad situation.

I support our restrictive laws.
They allow the police to take weapons off those who have no reasonable excuse to be carrying them, and excludes scumbags/psychos from obtaining firearms.

Our crim's using illegally held firearms generally only use them against other crim's, and our police are not requesting more firearms for themselves.
If it was a free for all like America where anyone can pretty much obtain whatever they like then our police would end up as scary as they are in the US.

I like living in a country where nobody I know is scared of the police.
I like living in a police constabulary where they sometimes need the assistance of good citizens because they are outnumbered and are only carrying batons.

a reply to: b14warrior

I haven't missed the point, I simply choose not to agree with you.

There wouldn't be any more or less rapes if tasers were legal, you'd just be giving the victims a higher chance of escaping the situation rather than succumbing to it, which I presume is not a bad thing?

You don't hear of many taser rapes in America as far as I'm aware despite there being a large number in circulation, if you'd like to provide some stats to support that Id be happy to look at them.

a reply to: boymonkey74

Thanks for that, can't stop laughing, best I've seen yet.

UK pensioners lived through the blitz, the troubles (constant bombings by the IRA), they're made of far tougher stuff than myself and certainly some malnourished, junkie robber. They don't need guns to take care of themselves.

People respect the elderly in the UK and know not to mess with them as they'll probably hand your arse to you or if they don't everyone in the area and every prisoner they share a prison with will do every day for the rest of their lives. Even theives have a code. No vulnerables, no innocents.

a reply to: MagnaCarta2015

Yeah, because if you were going to commit a rape and guns are available....... why would you take a taser.

And how on earth do you think a woman with a taser in her handbag will stand chance against a man that jumps out of a dark ally with a taser in his hand?
Because that is what will happen if tasers become legal in the UK just as people use guns for such crimes in the USA.

Pretty sure if you asked British women if they would like to put tasers in the hands of the British public, thus giving prospective attackers the opportunity to use them too then they'd tell you to take your opinions back to the USA.

Again this all boils down to upping the ante. You bring a rock, I'll bring a bat, I bring a bat you bring a knife. I see your knife and raise you a taser, you then get a gun and I get one too. Hey presto, the people wanting to mug me have guns, I have guns, the police have guns and everything gets a little more dangerous.

Also, ever seen a group of drunk British chav women fighting after the pub? Currently they only have their stilettos to use........ dear god don't give them the power of electricity too!!!!

originally posted by: bastion
Even theives have a code. No vulnerables, no innocents.

Mostly agreed, old people being robbed and beaten is rare, and makes national news wherever it happens in the UK.

My mam is in her 70's and she walks daily through gangs of local youths on her way to the shops in the rough arsed estate I'm originally from in Swansea. She thinks they are nice boys who smile at her, but when I visit with my son we get stares and moodiness from the same groups because we are perhaps fair game compared to old people.

It is only really the psycho loner types who attack old folk in the UK, maybe we just have a better class of criminals in the UK, you know, unspoken rules and all that?

a reply to: MagnaCarta2015

Yeah you don't hear of many rapes where tasers have been used because if you were going to commit a rape and guns are available....... why would you take a taser? Also, it'd be a pretty poor choice of weapon to use in close combat, just a spray would be.

And how on earth do you think a woman with a taser in her handbag will stand chance against a man that jumps out of a dark ally with a taser in his hand?
Because that is what will happen if tasers become legal in the UK just as people use guns for such crimes in the USA.

Pretty sure if you asked British women if they would like to put tasers in the hands of the British public, thus giving prospective attackers the opportunity to use them too then they'd tell you to take your opinions back to the USA.

Again this all boils down to upping the ante. You bring a rock, I'll bring a bat, I bring a bat you bring a knife. I see your knife and raise you a taser, you then get a gun and I get one too. Hey presto, the people wanting to mug me have guns, I have guns, the police have guns and everything gets a little more dangerous.

Also, ever seen a group of drunk British chav women fighting after the pub? Currently they only have their stilettos to use........ dear god don't give them the power of electricity too!!!!