Time For Knife Control In Canada

[maplesyrup]

A lot of violent crime is done with knives as well as guns, and we need to get them off the streets too.

Knives should have serial numbers on them, and the purchaser or owner of a knife should have to register them.

Now that we have basically addressed the gun issue, it is time for some government legislation on the knife issue.

[ceemes]

Okayyyyy.....either you are attempting to be funny in a satirical manner MS, or you have finally gone of into the very very deep end.

As it is, there are law already on the books that address knives, certain type such as flick knives and switch blades along with knives with blades over a certain lenght have already been prohibited in Canada and pocession of said prohibited knife can be a felony offence.

As it is, most knives are little more then tools and not weapons.

[PocketRocket]

No, he's right. Knives should be prohibited. Then safety razors. Then box-cutters. After that, we should go after screwdrivers, awls, icepicks, and fireplace pokers. And finally, we should be shutting down those places that sell fingernail extenders.

Those things are deadly.

Uh-huh.

[kimmy]

Knife control? Which knives will be subject? Hunting knives? Kitchen knives? What about axes? Carpentry tools? Sharpened rocks? Scissors?

Would there be a National Knife Registry? There are, what, 11.5 million households in Canada? Averaging, say, 15 knives each? If the National Gun Registry has cost $2 billion for registering 6 million guns, how much money would it cost to register the possibly 170 million knives in Canada?

How about blunt objects? Baseball bats, etc? Rocks, concrete garden gnomes, bricks, bowling balls, and pretty much anything large and heavy could be used to commit homicide too.

This is a real prize-winner of an idea you've come up with, Syrup.

-kimmy

[maplesyrup]

Each knife blade could have a serial number engraved into it, so it would be easy to register the knives.

The incidents of knife attacks are high enough to warrant knife control.

[Cartman]

The incidents of knife attacks are high enough to warrant knife control.

Then they would bring more guns into Calgary nightclubs. Check out the # of stabbings in Calgary clubs...it amazes me.

[kimmy]

Will I have to remove my kitchen knives from a locked cabinet when I want to make a salad?

-kimmy

[Cartman]

Will I have to remove my kitchen knives from a locked cabinet when I want to make a salad?

Yeah, after you get permission from the feds.

[Argus]

Okayyyyy.....either you are attempting to be funny in a satirical manner MS, or you have finally gone of into the very very deep end.

Sadly, I think he is entirely serious.

He rarely puts a lot of thought into these things.

[ceemes]

Okayyyyy.....either you are attempting to be funny in a satirical manner MS, or you have finally gone of into the very very deep  end.

Sadly, I think he is entirely serious.

He rarely puts a lot of thought into these things.

Yeah....that's my take as well........odd little dude, but you have to admit, he is damn good for starting interesting threads

[Newfie Canadian]

Now that we have basically addressed the gun issue

With all due respect Syrup, hardly.

The kind of thing you're talking about would put the money pit called the Gun Registry to shame in regards to operating costs.

[maplesyrup]

Make fun of this idea all you want but before too much longer we will have knife control in Canada. We are a little behind the times. There is no reason for most people to walk around with a knife.

In 1998 the state of New South Wales made it illegal to sell knives or knife blades to anyone under 16. Plastic knives are still acceptable. Everything else, though -- from cake slicers to cutlery -- is off-limits. In Queensland, a new law prohibits carrying a knife in public without a "reasonable" excuse -- a loophole that, the police minister stressed, did not include self-defense.

[maplesyrup]

How many years does one get for carrying around an unlicensed hangun?

I propose a sentence of 5 years for carrying around an unlicensed knife!

[Cartman]

Knives are serious weapons and they are often used to hurt people. Obviously, they should be controlled. It seems that every weekend I hear of another stabbing in a Calgary nightclub.

The question is whether it is possible to actually have some sort of a registry. I suspect that people could easily make knives on their own. My father was a machinist and made a pretty scary looking machete for clearing brush on x-country ski trails in the mountains. So, I am not sure one could count them all.

As an aside, I have never understood why the gun registry was so costly. We register cars, fridges, stoves, DVD players etc etc and it never went crazy like gun control. I have heard that in Germany some fancy registries went overboard because of their complexity.

[maplesyrup]

I think Canada should have made the gun manufacturers, rather than the taxpayers, pay for our gun control system.

After all a gun's purpose is to kill. Just lke a mining company should pay for damage to the environment, the gun lobby should be made to pay for the gun pollution.

The knife manufacturers should pay for knife control.

Stab victims' parents urge action

More than 3 inches - five years. I like it.

[brianw]

Even if every object that could be used to harm (which is probably just about every object) is registered how would that address the reason for the attacks in the first place (which is violence by people not objects)?

How exactly would having a number engraved on a knife be of any use?

Take a hacksaw and file it down. You now have a 12 inch knife. Take a chainsaw bar and file it down and you now have a weapon. Where does the registration stop and the addressing of the real issues begin?

[maplesyrup]

If we didn't have people walking around with guns and knives do you think the homicide rates would be lower? Of course they would. Too easy access to weapons makes for a very dangerous society. Look at the US - it's almost a war zone there. Is that what you want?

Guns and knives are used to attack, injure, and kill people. What do you think guns are here for - target practice? Guns are a weapon used to kill people, and so is a knife. A knife is a cutting blade attached to a handle, that is what is being used to attack people with. It's not complicated. You have a serial number engraved on the blade at time of manufacture. Anything more than a 3 inch blade would require registration. Lots of other products have serial numbers and are registered. Yup this would help a lot, but of course it would not solve everything. Severe prison sentencing for violators would also be useful. Whatever happened to hard labour in the prison system or was that just for TV shows? Did Canada ever have hard labour in its prisons?

[maplesyrup]

According to the Irish Independent newspaper, Health and Children Committee chairman Batt O'Keeffe has called for tightening that country's knife-control laws -- and compiling a national register of knives and swords "capable of inflicting serious harm."

CAPABLE OF INFLICTING SERIOUS HARM

I don't know how many countries have yet addressed this issue of knife control but it seems that Australia, Ireland, and England have, or or at least are looking at it. Canada will soon be up there with them.

[shackwacky]

A knife is a cutting blade attached to a handle, that is what is being used to attack people with.

Also used to chop onions, pare apples, whittle tree branches, slice eggs, skin varmit, do surgery, pick gum off your boots, cut steak......I can't believe that anyone would seriously consider a registry for knives. What a colossal waste of money.

Next: forks, could be dangerous in the wrong hands. And scissors, you might run with them. Sticks, you could take an eye out with that. Not even going to mention lawn darts...

[kimmy]

The police can charge people with carrying a concealed weapon if they deem it appropriate (and I'm assuming the problem we're discussing is concealed knives, since I don't think many schools or nightclubs let people wander around with knives on display; Sikhs being one exceptions and Calgary possibly another )

-kimmy

[Cartman]

Also used to chop onions, pare apples, whittle tree branches, slice eggs, skin varmit, do surgery, pick gum off your boots, cut steak......I can't believe that anyone would seriously consider a registry for knives. What a colossal waste of money.

Well, dynamite was used for mining purposes but I sure would not want someone walking around with it on the streets. Just because something has a useful purpose does not mean it should be open season for it.

Would it cost so much money? How do you know? Sure, the gun registry cost $$, but I worked in the electronics industry for some time and we never spent much registering thousands of CD players, DVD players, TV's, VCR's etc. Maybe the gun registry was unique. Why do we not get angry about cars being registered? We even pay for this registration and cars are not weapons. The only serious problem with registering knives I can see is that they can be made at home.

I'm assuming the problem we're discussing is concealed knives, since I don't think many schools or nightclubs let people wander around with knives on display; Sikhs being one exceptions and Calgary possibly another

Yeah yeah...I deserved that one. But really, I suspect that there is a very serious problem in Calgary right now even if you do not hear it much in the media. From police reports and what hundreds of my students are telling me, things are bananas here.

[RB]

isn't knives covered under the criminal code already, with heights etc.

mind you I would not mind forgoing the household usage of knives and go in favor of a license

what it means to me is that both males and females would have the opportunity to a license to operate the knives in the kitchen for cooking purposes.

and we can predict based on the males yearning to own and operate tools they are most likely to get registered.

ideally women can look forward to having a better selection of males based on their license.

[playfullfellow]

The issue isn't the knife, gun, bowling ball or garden gnome itself, it is the idiot that is behind them. People have lost the respect for human life. Knives have a purpose in life, they are a tool that we use to make our lives easier but some idiots feel they are for getting your point across in an argument. Mandatory registration is about as usefull as the gun registry, even more so because anyone with a file can make a knife of sorts. We would be better off spending that money on better enforcement, tougher prison sentences and proper education teaching people respect for fellow people. Short of a small pocket knife, there is absolutely no need to be carrying a knife anyways in public. As a tradesperson, I carry a razor knife most of the time, but this is a tool, not a weapon, I was taught respect for human life growing up and would never conceive using a knife on anyone else unless it was to protect my own life or someone elses.

[fellowtraveller]

More than 3 inches

Something the OP will never have to fret about.

[brianw]

If we didn't have people walking around with guns and knives do you think the homicide rates would be lower?

That's not registration that is banning.

Of course they would. Too easy access to weapons makes for a very dangerous society.

You are assuming that the people who don't have access to a weapon won't pick up a stick, use a boot, fist or whatever else is handy. You are assuming that the object somehow controls the individual rather than the individual controling the object.

Why not just place a registration number on people's arms instead? Wouldn't that solve all the worlds problems and be less expensive than having so many other registrations?