Samurai swords to be banned?

Question

http://uk.news.yahoo.com/pressass/20071212/tuk-samurai-swords-to-be-banned-6323e80_1.html

April????

This should of been done long ago

What are your views on this?

Two thugs who hacked a friend to death with Samurai swords just minutes after police pulled them over for bad driving are both facing life behind bars.

Gavin Ward, 25, and Noel Moran, 23, burst into the West Drayton home of Christopher "Millsy" Mills, 22, and launched a horrific revenge attack in retaliation for a New Year's Eve scuffle.

Answer 1

I agree it should have been done long ago, for the same reason as knuckle dusters and flick knives etc. they are purel offensive weapons for morons and criminals.

Genuine collectors and Martial arts enthusiasts who are carefully monitored will be exempt.

Answer 2

As an offensive bladed weapon they are already restricted under law. This extra legislation totally outlaws the sale of imitation swords (the decorative type) and severly restricts that of the genuine article. I doubt this will reduce the crime relating to Japanese swords. They are already illegal to carry on the street without proper cause. The people who want to carry them for violent crime are the sort of people who will get them illegally anyway. The good news is pretentious middle-class people with no interest in Martial Arts will no longer be able to buy them simply to look 'exotic' and travelled by displaying them above their fireplace. The bad news is new practicioners of Iaido and other arts will have to fork out more money when they want to practise with swords rather than Bokken (wooden practise swords). Does anybody know if this extends to swords from other cultures. I am a Chinese martial arts fanatic and own several Jian (straight swords) and Dao (curved swords).

Answer 3

They should not be banned!

How far will this nanny state go in taking away peoples pleasures and rights. Guns were made illegal after a few highly publicised cases ie dunblain and hungerford.
These acts were carried out by two individuals, not by the thousands of people that had their livelihoods and hobbies taken away.
The majority of knife attacks are carried out with kitchen knives, do you propose that these are also banned. I wonder how many people are smothered to death every year under cushions, should we ban these.
Of course it seems shocking and horrific when somebody does kill with one of these weapons but banning them wont stop the killing, it will just change the weapon that is used.

Answer 4

Not a bad idea, but people that want to threaten others will move on to other knives & weapons.
What about baseball bats, rope, a plank of wood with nails in the end, dogs, or even cars? All of these can kill if somebody really wants to use them that way.
We need to find a way to deter people from trying to do that much harm to another person.

Answer 5

Banning things generally doesn't work. People who kill other people aren't going to worry about breaking the law by carrying a weapon. They are breaking the law by killing someone anyway so who cares about the extra 6 months on their 20 years for carrying a sword?

Answer 6

They banned hand guns but shootings have increased.
They banned knives but because of the gun law stabbings have increased.
This is another law that only affects the law abiding citizen, The criminal element won't bother about a law. What will be the new method of causing death I wonder?
What we should be doing is dishing out sentences that match the crime, Not trying to make room in overcrowded jails.

Answer 7

Banning things always is a contentious subject. There is one of these shops that sell imitation weapons of all kinds in my town, the youths that gaze through the window longingly drooling over them, on the face of it, aren't the type of people I'd like to think should own them. Some of these weapons are deadly. It's a shame for the genuine collector, but what do you do? Deadly weapons that are cheap to buy are too dodgy to encourage.

Answer 8

They should focus more on banning guns because that's much more dangerous. But why worry so much on something that stands out right away in public? What about knives? I know that they're trying to have less lethal weapons as possible but I'm not sure if that would do much.

Answer 9

As usual a few nutters spoil things for everybody so the Government knee jerk reaction is to "ban" it. It'll be interesting to see how they legislate for the exceptions i.e. how do you prove you are into martial arts with swords or are a dedicated collector? Tempting to go and buy one before April just because you can.

Answer 10

I am not sure about the point of this. A Samurai sword is a lovely decorative item. As a weapon, I can't say I would dream of using one. Surely someone who would use a Samurai sword as a weapon will simply use something else instead!

Answer 11

Aren't knifes and small blades a lot more dangerous. Samurai swords are expensive, even the cheaper ones. So why worry about samurai swords?