Thread: Knives, rights, etc.

I've carried a pocket knife since I was 4 years old (yes, my Dad gave me my first when I was 4). Personally I think the problem lies not with kids carrying knives, but in how kids are disciplined these days and what they are exposed to. How can a kid that spends all day playing violent video games and watching violent shows on TV have any basis in reality? Also junior is always getting what he wants, never smacked when he misbehaves, etc, so there goes the concepts of what is right and wrong. A knife is a tool that can empower a kid, and depending on the kid that can be good or bad. If the kid is a little psycho with no concept or rules or what is right, then allowing him to have a knife is only going to lead to bad things. I except that there are a lot of people that are nervous of knives so I carry knives that work well and are non-threatening. My favorite is a Spyderco Saver Salt, 100% rust proof blade and hardware, backlock, blunt fully serrated blade and neon yellow handle. I never need a sharp tip on my knife so that works with the blunt tip, and the serrations cut through everything like a shark. The handle is FRN (Fiber Reinforced Nylon) so it is almost indestructable.

Originally Posted by nun2sharp

Unless they are junk, why turn in your guns? Especially if they are to be outlawed? That would be when you need them the most!

Why? A four year stretch. That's why!

It is obvious that there is a major philosophical difference between our continents. As I said before, remarkably few people own a firearm in Britain. They are not part of our culture & never have been. The prevalence of them in the US appals most people here. I was once offered a position in the ER of a San Francisco hospital. I turned it down because I did not want to work in a place where every idiot who walked through the door could be & was probably armed. I worked, as a nurse, in British ERs for over ten years. I was attacked 38 times, stabbed three times & had a firearm pulled on me twice. Both times were brown trouser jobs. Apart from when I worked in Belfast for three months, during the tail end of the Troubles, I did not see one gunshot wound. Before you ask, I worked in three hospitals in the tougher parts of London.

Originally Posted by Wildtim

Briton: Proof that when you outlaw guns the outlaws still have them.

Actually, most of them do not. It is seen by most as a sign of weakness to pull a gun. You settle your differences with fists feet or steel. If you draw your "tool" first, you have admitted defeat.

Originally Posted by Wildtim

... Proof that when you outlaw guns the outlaws still have them.

Originally Posted by Spike J

Actually, most of them do not. It is seen by most as a sign of weakness to pull a gun. You settle your differences with fists feet or steel. If you draw your "tool" first, you have admitted defeat.

Ah--that points up another cultural difference, I think. I'd say when I was growing up, in a rural area where most households had firearms but they were almost never used against people, a similar ethic prevailed. Those who got into a fight were expected to do it, as you said, with fists or feet, and maybe very rarely a knife would come out; I never saw that happen myself.

Now, in those city neighborhoods where violence is endemic, the gun is resorted to first, the more deadly the firepower the better it seems.

Rich

Originally Posted by Spike J

I was once offered a position in the ER of a San Francisco hospital. I turned it down because I did not want to work in a place where every idiot who walked through the door could be & was probably armed.

actually, in san fran, you'd prolly be just fine :-D also, not sure about cali, but even here in the gunloving land of Texas, it's not legal to have a gun in the hospital, whether you are licensed or not.

Despite what hollywood tells you, gun violence in its present form is rather new to the states. When I was growing up pulling a weapon was a sign of weakness and if you did so the peer pressure alone would do you in, both friend and foe would consider it unmanly and you would become a pariah, if the police didnt get you first.

Originally Posted by Spike J

[SIZE=3][FONT=Arial]
Why? A four year stretch. That's why!

Actually, most of them do not. It is seen by most as a sign of weakness to pull a gun. You settle your differences with fists feet or steel. If you draw your "tool" first, you have admitted defeat.

Same here.
Very few criminals are armed with guns.

First of all, burglars don't need them in their professions.
Second, there is a penalty difference between robbery and armed robbery.
Third, unlicensed gun ownership is not a laughing matter, and it will cost you several years.
And fourth: if you would be stupid enough to create a situation in which you are using a gun, the police will shoot to kill immediately. Most criminals are smart enough to know the odds.

Only the most hardened criminals use guns. And luckily, they are few and far between.
'Normal' criminals see guns as a sign of either weakness or great stupidity.
Violent conlfict is 99% of the time a matter of feet and fist. Knife fights are rare (thank gods) and gunfights even rarer.