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patentdragonOh look, here comes another knee-jerk "make the streets safe" law - a ban on the import, sale and (?) hire of samurai swords in England and Wales.
Or is it...?
It's well worth checking out several sources for these stories, because some seem to be presenting this as a masterplan to make our streets safer, because of "all the samurai sword attacks"... I think I can recall maybe two or three in the last decade - and twelve times that number of knife murders in this year alone, and just in the London area. But it transpires that martial arts enthusiasts have been consulted about this, and the actual plan is to ban cheap imitation swords, leaving the genuine exponents of the art unaffected. Doesn't sound like such a bad idea...
Pity there's been such a race for tabloid headlines, then. Eighty attacks "in recent years" and five deaths, according to the BBC - about the same figures for knife crime in ghetto London over the last couple of months, and maybe the same number of car accidents and fatalities happen in a week. The attacks have, apparently, been "high profile" - I wonder why? Because "samurai sword" makes for a better headline than "kitchen knife", perhaps?
I don't want to belittle the deaths and maimings of actual human beings, but let's be honest: stoking this sort of thing up for column-inches and screen-time does not do society any favours. We should be more worried about the chav/ned vermin with their easily-concealed screwdrivers and spud-peelers - and their utter disregard for the lives of all around them, except themselves, which is right at the heart of the matter, and never gets any consideration.
Sources - Ban on imitation Samurai swords; Defending the sword
Ah - nice to get back into the old groove.
Or is it...?
It's well worth checking out several sources for these stories, because some seem to be presenting this as a masterplan to make our streets safer, because of "all the samurai sword attacks"... I think I can recall maybe two or three in the last decade - and twelve times that number of knife murders in this year alone, and just in the London area. But it transpires that martial arts enthusiasts have been consulted about this, and the actual plan is to ban cheap imitation swords, leaving the genuine exponents of the art unaffected. Doesn't sound like such a bad idea...
Pity there's been such a race for tabloid headlines, then. Eighty attacks "in recent years" and five deaths, according to the BBC - about the same figures for knife crime in ghetto London over the last couple of months, and maybe the same number of car accidents and fatalities happen in a week. The attacks have, apparently, been "high profile" - I wonder why? Because "samurai sword" makes for a better headline than "kitchen knife", perhaps?
I don't want to belittle the deaths and maimings of actual human beings, but let's be honest: stoking this sort of thing up for column-inches and screen-time does not do society any favours. We should be more worried about the chav/ned vermin with their easily-concealed screwdrivers and spud-peelers - and their utter disregard for the lives of all around them, except themselves, which is right at the heart of the matter, and never gets any consideration.
Sources - Ban on imitation Samurai swords; Defending the sword
Ah - nice to get back into the old groove.
