From the article: "...law enforcement officials testified that 'the modern way of approaching these issues is to go after the source of the items rather than the criminals themselves.'"
A very strange state of affairs. Thousands of high powered assualt rifles are shipped to criminal drugs cartels (whose main line of business is the import of elicit drugs into the USA) in Mexico by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives in Operation Operation Fast and Furious, which resulted in these weapons finding their way back onto the city streets in the USA.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Fast_and_FuriousYet it would appear there is no public outrage in the USA over these criminal actions by US Government Federal law enforcement agencies, but OMG a law abiding citizen carrying a 3 inch folding knife without good reason to do so....
A bizarre and worrying state of affairs as the propagation of fear grips the nation.
Now, I happen to have a crowbar in my bugout kit. That makes me worried.
I guess you just have to just take into consideration the level of corruption and criminality that is currently established in the your local government and police force as well as the level of knife, gun and violent crime. They are all factors which must be considered before venturing out whilst 'tooled' up.