Scotland To Ban The General Sale Of Swords

[DarkEntity]

I cant belive it, Scotland is to ban the general sale of swords, thinking it will decrease the knife crime!

Sob.....sad day for respectible collectors :(

http://www.scotland.gov.uk/News/Releases/2006/08/14094639

[kessellrun]

The phrase "closing the barn door after the horse has bolted" springs to mind...

Honestly - what the hell are those numptys in Edinburgh doing all day??

Cathy Jamieson - Oh look - somebody got stabbed! That's pure terrible, man! I know - let's ban stabby things!
or
Jack McConnell - Oh look - some wee wean got shot by an air rifle! That's pure terrible, man! I know - let's ban shooty airy things!

Banning these things is not going to stop the determined degenerate from getting hold of said items!!! In fact they don't even have to be determined - they just have either know a "mate" who's got one, or be the mate!

What they need to do is jail anybody who commits an offence with something ridiculous like 25 years for a paper cut. The amount of incidents would plummet!

I bet they're all wishing there was more Tommy-gate to deflect the attention away from their lack of so-called "leadership"???

God, I need to get into politics - they wouldn't know what hit them...

[DarkEntity]

I have 3 swords on the way soon...im now concerned the bloody things wont even arrive, or ill be basically told to hand them in, including the ones i already own :(

[BUFF]

so people will just buy them from England, eBay etc. ...

When will the Executive be banning timber & steel pipe - I've seen far more fights with those than with swords? :rolleyes:

[Chenks]

you will be allowed to buy swords if you have a valid reason for having one... ie religious, sport etc... it will need to be a licensed purchase and you will need to prove before you are able to buy.

why would anyone need a sword anyway ? other than for legitimate sporting or religious reasons.

[haz]

If you're a collector.

But why would you need a sword for religious reasons? :/

[Essay @ Kustom]

why would anyone need a sword anyway ? other than for legitimate sporting or religious reasons.

Decorative purposes.

While I don't own any myself, I do, for reasons unbeknownst to me, enjoy looking at a finely crafted weapon ( ooh-er missus! ), be that a sword, gun or what-have-you.

When I first started going out with my girlfriend, she did find it a little wierd that I liked guns, swords, pole arms, crossbows etc etc, but in the 4 years we've been together, I haven't killed anyone, so she's less freaked out by it.

I guess it's just the same as people who drool over certain makes of car, or trains, for instance.

[ArTizan]

lol, Scots and their swords! Methinks the guys have been watching a bit too much Braveheart.

Are sword killings common in Scotland? I've heard tales of the Celtic Samauris, and Hairy Haggis Swordwielders.

[Big Adam]

With the exception of religious, sporting or ceremonial purposes, no one needs to carry a sword on a night out.

Nice quote by the Scottish head of Violence Reduction Unit.

Presumably, if you are asked why you are in posession of a sword, you can claim to have taken up Sikhism and you'll be let off?

Actually, if you read into that article you'll see that there are many more exception to the ban including "antique collecting". I can see people arguing that their classy silver plated wall mounted "Spirit of the mystic wind" sword that they bought down he pub for £40 is a genuine antique.

[jacobzcoool]

Decorative purposes.

While I don't own any myself, I do, for reasons unbeknownst to me, enjoy looking at a finely crafted weapon ( ooh-er missus! ), be that a sword, gun or what-have-you.

When I first started going out with my girlfriend, she did find it a little wierd that I liked guns, swords, pole arms, crossbows etc etc, but in the 4 years we've been together, I haven't killed anyone, so she's less freaked out by it.

I guess it's just the same as people who drool over certain makes of car, or trains, for instance.
Got it exactly right there.

Personally, I have never seen anyone carrying a sword, even though there are plenty of chavs you can see, 90% of who are probably carrying knives, but a sword is too hard to carry, you can't just hide it in your coat/belt!

[DT1]

I used to carry a sword when I lived in London, a hand-and-a half (or *******) sword!

I used to do re-enactment in Kent and I used to travel back by train, so late at night I would wander through Tower Hamlets to get home with this sword strapped across my back.

At the time it was the part of the country with the highest ratio of muggings/violent assault, funnily enough I never saw any trouble. :)

[Essay @ Kustom]

With the exception of religious...

It's a good thing we all put Jedi as our religion, on that Census all those years ago. It's not our fault if lightsabers haven't been invneted yet, and so we need to use the low-tech equivilent. For religious purposes.

But seriously, I have heard of swords being used in fights, but it was simply a case of them being to hand, i.e. the decorative swords on the wall were removed and used as a weapon. If the swords were not there, it wouldn't have stopped the fight, they just would have picked up something else e.g. fire poker, kitchen knife, fluffy pillow, screwdriver, a ridiculously sharp PCB ( why do graphics cards have to be so damned sharp? You should see the cuts I go home with some days ) etc etc.

Banning/controlling the sale of swords will not stop the problems. Finding the root of the conflicts and stopping that is likley to yield better results.

But therein lies the rub, I guess.

[shifty.ricky]

Its like when they banned handguns. Gun crime actually rose.

Way to go team!

[Greyghost]

why would anyone need a sword anyway ? other than for legitimate sporting or religious reasons.


well i use them for my Martial Arts training ......its fine using a wooden copy , but its not realistic training until you use a real live blade.....obviously for Forms not for combat ......that would just be silly.....