quarterstaffs for everyone!!!!

[wesw]

no more knives in London ?

will they take your carving forks too?

...and bricks!!!!!

mayor khan will save you all!!!!!

he will lead you!

like lambs to the slaughter.

[Scooter]

He is putting more resources into enforcing existing laws.

You know, like gun nuts always say should be done to combat gun violence (rather than impose additional gun controls), but then never actually follow through.

[wesw]

...and seize their plowshares, lest they be beaten into swords.......

perhaps the only solution is to ban fire itself....

let each dig his own hole, then relinquish his shovel.

WE WILL BE SAFE< NO MATTER THE COST< WE WILL BE SAFE!!!!!

[Big RR]

So I presume you are on the side that says people have a right to carry a knife, concealed or not, in public? From what I read, the London ban on such carrying is the law that is being enforced; there is no ban on keeping knives at home or carrying them for a reason (such as if you are catching a train to go fishing). But your position is that you should always have the right to carry a knife in public places, correct?

As for the London law, in a place where even the police (in most cases) don't carry firearms, I wonder why knives are necessary. In any event, I would think the people in London are in a better position to make that determination than you or I, and they apparently spoke through their representatives a while ago (and did not change the law either). If this was a mayor acting unilaterally, perhaps I could see your point, but that doesn't appear to be the case.

[wesw]

so are YOU against the right to carry a knife?

...about two or three weeks ago I went to the DMV to turn in my tags on an old truck that I gave away....

there was a new sign on the door which stated "NO guns or weapons allowed"

I briefly glanced at it on the way in and I asked the uniformed State Policeman, who, stands, at the info desk about it...

that got his attention....

i told him that i had my buck knife on my hip, and asked if i should put it out in my vehicle....

he relaxed, smiled, and said i was fine....

yah! America still survives.

yes i carry a buck 110 on my hip, almost always. i use it all the time (never on a person...., yet)

anyone who does yardwork, or is involved in the costruction trades, needs a knife.

anyone who works in a warehouse needs a knife...

if you like your lunchtime apple peeled..., you need a knife.

are you really saying that i shouldn t keep my Buck 110 on my belt?

my leatherman tool has a blade as well....

is obsidian acceptable?

i won t panic until i hear your response, but i m worried that you would not allow me to carry what i deem to be a necessary tool for my daily life.

[wesw]

...and I believe that humans have carried knives since they first acquired a sharp rock shard.

but maybe mayor khan knows best....

all hail the mighty khan......

[RayThom]

[wesw]

[Big RR]

Am I against the "right" to carry a knife? Personally, I don't think we have a "right" to carry a knife anymore than we have a right to carry acid or an open flame in public; it depends on the circumstances. If I am a mechanic carrying a carboy of battery acid, I have a reason to carry the acid (and there are certainly other valid reasons), but otherwise I have no business carrying that same carboy through Times Square. If I have a similar need for a knife (such as in my work while I am working in that area), I could likewise carry a knife in that same area, but I see no blanket right to carry a knife and pretend I'm Paul Hogan in a busy public place. Personally, I would leave it to the people in an area to decide what type of carrying is accepted/prohibited, which is why, in England it is likely illegal to carry a knife in the middle of London but not when hiking the Scottish highlands or in farm country. In areas where there are larger concentrations of people, the residents may decide to ban carrying certain types of things that are acceptable elsewhere.

I see you say you carry a buck knife, but is it your position that you also have a right to carry a switchblade? What about a machete or broadsword? IMHO reasonable restrictions should be applied, and I am not about to second guess Londoners about what is reasonable.

but maybe mayor khan knows best....

all hail the mighty khan......

Again, it is not the mayor's decree, it is his enforcement of a law enacted by the people in a democratic republic. And the people can change the law as well if they see fit. Do you believe in democracy?

[wesw]

ok man.

perhaps we need designated meat cutters for those of us who carry some leftover roast beast in our lunchbox.

please sir, will you peel me apple?

I believe that brandishing a knife in a threatening way is wrong, and likely illegal.

you seem to have lost the concept of liberty somewhere along your life s path.

or maybe you just discarded it , as it seemed to be unsafe

[Big RR]

Perhaps, but to me "liberty" is far more than walking around with a knife on my belt (or a gun on my hip or shoulder for that matter); just as I am more than willing to submit to regulation of the time, place and manner of certain types of speech, I am also willing to the same sort of regulation of the carrying of certain objects, be they knives, acid, large dogs (OK, more walking than carrying them), etc. IMHO liberty does not mean that you can do whatever you want whenever you want to, but that the regulation of actions must be made with deliberation and public input and, in the case of highly important rights, must be minimal and intended to achieve compelling public interests. I have discarded nothing, but I have recognized that we live in a society that has the right to regulate some behavior for the common good, so long as the regulations meet those criteria. Indeed, I am a strong supporter of civil liberties and individual rights, as I think should be evident from many of my posts here

And FWIW, I have no dog in this fight--it's the city of London which has these laws and, not living there, I am neither impacted by them nor do I have any idea what prompted this regulation or whether it is overly burdensome. Perhas some Board members from London may choose to comment.

[wesw]

funny that you should mention large dogs....

wolfhounds/deerhounds were once seized by the English.....

the Troubles have a loooong history

subjugation and elite control have long histories..

... bitter histories of extermination, subjugation and civil war.

[Burning Petard]

I nearly always have in my pocket a 3-folding bladed knife with slip lock mechanism. It is either a Buck cadet or a Case small stockman. The longest blade is about 2.5 inches long. I would like to carry a fixed blade knife with a ~3 inch drop-point blade in a kydex sheath on my belt.
I find such a knife a generally useful tool to have readily to hand. A fixed blade is simpler to use and safer. But Delaware law places ANY size fixed blade in the same category (dangerous weapon) as a Sig 220 with 20 round magazine. and requires a CCW if it is not clearly related to your immediate work activity. So I carry a small well made folding knife of the simplest design.

snailgate

[Scooter]

The current law in the UK says that it is illegal to carry a knife with more than a 3-inch blade in public without a legitimate purpose (occupational requirement, etc.).

Khan has no authority to alter the law in any way, he has done nothing but to say that the law as it stands will be rigorously enforced.

Apparently Trumpanzees stand for doing away with the rule of law and replacing it with something they have chosen not to define.

Delaware law places ANY size fixed blade in the same category (dangerous weapon) as a Sig 220 with 20 round magazine. and requires a CCW if it is not clearly related to your immediate work activity.

What's that you say, wes is completely ignorant of the law in his own state? Say it isn't so.

[wesw]

well, snailgate....

I was not aware that fixed blade knives were illegal to carry concealed in Delaware. I never thought to check....

when I go fishing I sometimes carry my fillet knife on my belt, I won t change that.

it isn t concealed so it doesn t matter.

Delaware is an open carry state.

[RayThom]

We'll soon be heading toward the ol' "slippery slope" legal argument.

In Response To Growing Number Of Fistfights, London Mayor Bans Hands
http://babylonbee.com/news/in-response- ... ans-hands/

Toddler Brandishing Play-Doh Pocketknife Apprehended By UK Police
http://babylonbee.com/news/toddler-bran ... uk-police/

[Darren]

They need to ban screwdrivers too.

https://www.coventrytelegraph.net/news/ ... n-14494534

[Big RR]

As I recall, screwdrivers were all it took for Bernie Getz, the NYC "Subway Vigilante" to shoot the itinerant subway repairmen who needed the screwdrivers for their "work".

[Burning Petard]

As for WESW's experience, he is in the lower part of the Delmarva Peninsula, nowhere near the big city of Wilmington. Small town cops are more likely to look to the spirit of the law and consider the particular circumstances. Consider the appeal of the tv show, Mayberry RFD. Big city cops are forced into a condition of perpetual hyper alertness and look to the smallest detail of the law to preempt any danger.

snailgate.

[Big RR]

And that's why, in addition to state and federal laws, we have local ones.