What has happened to the once proud and independent English People?

The BBC website ( http://news.bbc.co.uk/ ) recently reported on a very successful knife amnesty, wherin Britons could turn over pocket knives to the police (similar, in many respects, to the ones we have for Glocks and Colts here in the USA). Apparently, anyone now found carrying a knife around in the UK is considered a potential murderer. What would Winston Churchill have thought of this?

Just about every article refers to a youth propaganda, errr, education program "highlighting the dangers of carrying knives". Nowhere could I find a list of these "dangers".

The closest I got was one (1) mention of the possibility of the knife being taken from you and used against you. This would solve that problem:
http://www.a-human-right.com/quacks_s.jpg
Anyway, if it is that easy to take a knife from someone, you should be able just take it back again, right?

The only other danger which might qualify it for the plural "dangers" is that "knives can kill". On this side of the pond, knives can be used to kill, but they don't do so on their own volition very often. I think this is related to the media phenomenon that all vehicles involving in accidents have drivers except for SUVs. SUVs are evil and just act on thier own.

Perhaps some of our UK members can elaborate on what they're telling the kiddies?

"...just another brick in the wall..."

Dangers of carrying knives:

1) Knives are ineffictive against projectile weapons

For a while, the UK has had a rule that you can only legally carry a folding (non-locking) blade of under 3" without good reason. (Actually, the law says you can't carry anything sharp without good reason, but that a small, SAK type folder is generally acceptable without a specific reason.) There is a degree of leeway that is at the discretion of the police and the prosecutors (something like the Spyderco UK penknife is fine if you are in the woods, not in a city centre bar at 11pm I suspect!)

But recently there were a series of stabbings which caught the press (who then put the usual incidents front page to create an impression of increasing rates). There is also a rise in young people carrying knives to school. And, as I'm afraid is often the case, the politicians decided to be seen to do things rather than solve the problem. So they had a knife amnesty, where people handed in hundreds of souvenirs, unwanted kitchen knives etc. But as you can still buy knives - the amnesty missed it's point.

I don't mind the knife law particularly (an SAK on EDC and other things with reason) although I'd like to be able to carry one that locks. BUT I do object to the utter failure of the powers that be to tackle the problem. As ever, those of us that are law abiding comply to new laws, and lose out, and those who are by definition outlaws ignore it and carry on.

(As an aside, I think some of this stems from the decline in hard contact sports in schools-it used to be that you could prove how tough you were instead of pretending by carrying a knife)

I don't feel comfortable criticizing the internal policies of another democracy, so I won't. I'll merely point out that, given the right political circumstances, we may be only 5-10 years away from something like this happening right here in the USA. A good reminder to be vigilant.

There's a sensible article about it in The Guardian. Eg: "Mr Eades said the increase in the past 12 months was significant and showed the government needed to tackle the root causes of knife crime. Amnesties would have little impact as long as unsliced bread existed, he said."

Interesting article. Learned a new buzzword: "acquaintance violence". In the UK I assume that means "to be attacked by someone to whom you have been properly introduced".

So, use of knives in "crimes of passion" are decreasing because fewer people have a knife handy when they happen to snap. Doesn't say if the same number of people were just clobbered with rocks instead.

On the other hand, robberies and other attacks on strangers with knives are increasing - perhaps because the robbers know that the victim is now less likely to be armed?

Unless you are within "spitting distance" (Hackathorn) then you might be dead before the BG with the knife.

i assume it all started with the local gun laws...
then shotgun laws
like cooking frogs...in warm, then increasing the heat...type of thing...same thing they want to do in south africa...watch for a CIVIL WAR....I PROMISE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! <img src="/images/graemlins/mad.gif" alt="" />