So this came across my news feed, and I couldn't help but think the US, Canada, and the UK are three distinct stages of civilian disarmament:
https://san.com/cc/owning-a-ninja-sword-in-uk-will-soon-be-illegal-amid-surge-in-knife-crime/
They focus so hard on the tools and restricting or prohibiting their possession by the general population, but seem to focus little attention on the causes of such violence. There are concerns amongst large segments of the population that this is because the goal is to just disarm all civilians, using any pretext. I don't disagree but I think what it really comes down to is that our leaders don't want to invest time and money in what would be a long and expensive effort just to not trample the rights of the average person when the cheap and easy solution (from their viewpoint) is to just ban the tools.
It is my view that this will eventually lead to banning rocks.
Admin Reminder: This is a borderline political topic and you are cautioned to observe board policies against direct political discussion. We can discuss the laws, but let's stop there.
I think this is a very valuable topic.
I don't think money has anything to do with it. The objective is clear if you look at countries with tight gun control. Canada, Australia, UK etc.
These countries have been able to trample it's people with reductions in many different rights. Freedom of speech, freedom of the press, various hardcore reactions to public health issues, etc.
Over 3000 people were arrested and imprisoned in the UK last year for things they said online. Police routinely visit peoples homes and question them about online posts. There are many videos of this online.
People in Australia were tackled, handcuffed and arrested for not wearing masks outside. Videos online.
There are much longer, exhaustive lists of this. That I won't go into. But if you regularly watch and read about rights violations across the globe. It's always easier for give to do this with an unarmed population.
I think "money" is the main driving force. But in a different way. The elite rich have one job. And that's to keep their money. A tiny percentage of them hold the majority of wealth. Their biggest fear is a democratic (voting) public uniting against this inequity. (How that looks is a wide spectrum.) But as long as the rich elite can keep the voting publics attention in supporting them and not united against them. They are ok. What's the easiest way to control that? It certainly isn't to arm everyone with the power to fight a tyrannical government. Meaning firearms.
It's so basic. And the media coverage has been so thick with anti gun propaganda. Alot of people have forgotten how this, and many other nations, became and remained free.
The saddest thing about this is you're and this report is exactly right. "Why" and not "how" people are shooting others is completely ignored. Take out the argument of "are the guns or people shooting each other". And just look at it from an objective point of view. Shouldn't we at least be asking and studying "why" people are shooting each other? Why are we ignoring that completely? Is there anything that is scientific about that approach? Purposely not even collecting information about the whys?
The other aspect is the outright lies concerning the amount of gun violence in the US. By every media outlet there is - radio, tv, film, news, corporate social media. Routinely cite FBI numbers that are false and misleading. I have an entire white paper on this that I can post. But the most glaring example is that they include suicides in their gun violence numbers. Which is a huge chunk of their numbers. The amount of people killed each year by guns is a very very small number. Self defense is also not spelled out in the gun controls numbers. It is all very misleading. And once you study the facts you begin to see how blatant it is. And how obvious it is that it's about "controlling" the populace not protecting them.
Search Google for pro gun control arguments and pro gun arguments? It's obviously being censored.
I learned at an early age that surprisingly sharp things hurt as did hot things. My parents did a couple of weird things....parenting and discipline too!
Only one time as a child I experienced someone crossing that boundary...Donnie O'Rock shot me between the toes (of course I was barefoot) with his bow and arrow. Metal tipped arrows. I still have the scar.
Unfortunately for Donnie I had my jump-rope and I threw it around his neck and left him with a rope burn that surpassed the one Clint Eastwood sported in Hang 'Em High.
Parents were notified, other kids got pulled in as witnesses. Result: Donnies dad (yes Sgt. O'Rock) tore up Donnies butt with a switch, took away his bow and arrow...permanently....and he was confined to his own yard for the rest of the summer.
As far as I know, Donnie never offended again.
The other kids that were present, saw how a sharp thing had hurt me, that I bled and my retaliatory strike hurt Donnie and that justice was swift and painful for him, too.
At a young age, all of us kids had a pocket knife. We were taught what we could and could not do with it. Any, and I do mean ANY, transgression of the rules and the pocket knife was GONE.
A 10 yr old without a pocket knife because he/she had decided to dig into the kitchen drywall with it was an object of shame and disgust.(That would be my oldest sister, who declared she didn't want the stupid knife anyway, but always complained she didn't have one when I whipped mine out to cut twine off the hay bales for my grand-dad a few years later when I got mine)
As far as the machetes, ninja swords and many other blades, I think there is a HUGE lack of parenting and discipline going on here.
The kids need to be parented, but they also need to be taught some things that are definitely lacking in their home environments;
Anger management
Responsibility
Empathy
Appropriate Socialization
I realize (and sorry if I am treading on toes here), many of the offenders are coming from cultures that do not teach their offspring these things. Many have come from conflict ridden nations in the middle east and sub-saharan Africa. Even when they are born in the nation their parents emigrated to, they live in enclaves/areas that are akin to the old ghettos of New York where the population was primarily from one culture. That cultures values/habits/means of conflict resolution may not even come close to what is considered socially acceptable in their new country.
Education is the key...but not just academics.
Cultural education is just as important.
That's where it needs to start in the UK.
And not just for the kids. The parents also need to be taught that their old values from where-ever do not mesh with the values/culture/habits of their new country. They need to be taught that if they love their children and want them to become successful, happy adults in their new country; they need to leave some or even most of their cultural mindset in the past.
(https://i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/newsfeed/003/036/511/5f6.png)
I'm not much for the "memeification" of news, but I don't think it gets much more simple than this. It's not the weapons, it's the bad folks using them.
Quote from: echo83 on March 29, 2025, 08:11:19 AM(https://i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/newsfeed/003/036/511/5f6.png)
I'm not much for the "memeification" of news, but I don't think it gets much more simple than this. It's not the weapons, it's the bad folks using them.
Epic. :)