Havvoc on 1/3/2006 at 19:00
Here's the only thing I'll say about it, because I hate arguing (most of the time) and my reputation's already bashed.
Laws against knives don't keep knives out of the hands of criminals. If a man who wants to mug people (an illegal act) wants to do it with a knife (an illegal object), he will get the knife because he already doesn't care what the law says. No respect for mugging laws, no respect for other laws. Logic, lads, logic.
Naartjie on 1/3/2006 at 19:03
Quote:
Well shoot, I had been under the impression that Northern Ireland, and to a lesser extent Scotland, and to an even lesser extent Wales, and possibly to an even lesser extent Cornwall were governed slightly different from England proper. I had thought that they weren't nearly as autonomous as different states in the U.S but sometimes were affected by different laws/policies.
Well you're half-right. The country is called "Great Britain" and encompasses all of the above (except Cornwall, which is kind of like pirate-land and ruled according to ancient maritime laws) and is governed from London. There is a Scottish parliament which handles a lot of peculiarly (and indeed, some peculiar) Scottish legislation but has no say on things like defence or foreign policy. Not sure what powers the Welsh Assembly has or what the situation is in Northern Ireland though, although you can't refer to federalism in Britain like you can in the case of the US or Germany, for example. Geographically and ethnically speaking, you can refer to any of the four home nations as a "country" but on the world stage it's just Britain or the UK.
jay pettitt on 1/3/2006 at 19:03
Quote:
Laws against knives don't keep knives out of the hands of criminals. If a man who wants to mug people (an illegal act) wants to do it with a knife (an illegal object), he will get the knife because he already doesn't care what the law says. No respect for mugging laws, no respect for other laws. Logic, lads, logic.
So what you're saying is, if a bloke mugs you with a knife, you can be pretty sure he is a criminal...
Havvoc on 1/3/2006 at 19:06
Quote Posted by jay pettitt
So what you're saying is, if a bloke mugs you with a knife, you can be pretty sure he is a criminal...
If he mugs you at all, he's automatically a criminal. If he plans on mugging people, he's already got criminal intent, so if he ignores that law, he'll ignore the knife law if he wants a knife to do it with.
Quote Posted by Naartjie
Geographically and ethnically speaking, you can refer to any of the four home nations as a "country" but on the world stage it's just Britain or the UK.
In my opinion... Wallace should've kicked all your Britty arses. Scotland forever!
(Kidding, I'm part British. And Scottish. And Irish. And German. And Cherokee. I'm a mutt, but I'm proud of my heritage.)
Mr.Duck on 1/3/2006 at 19:15
This reminds me of an amusing story down at my city where a mugger tried to rob a man outside a restaurant, if memory serves, and the guy turned out to be a hitman for some petty druglord, so he killed the mugger.
Quite the ironic little twist.
Still, glad t'hear you're ok fonzy...<3
jay pettitt on 1/3/2006 at 19:42
Quote Posted by Havvoc
If he mugs you at all, he's automatically a criminal. If he plans on mugging people, he's already got criminal intent, so if he ignores that law, he'll ignore the knife law if he wants a knife to do it with.
So criminals may well have knives.
So would you have a problem with giving Police powers to confiscate knives and/or make arrests if they had cause to believe that said chap didn't have a good reason for loitering at the train station with a knife?
mopgoblin on 1/3/2006 at 20:18
Loitering? Waiting idly in a place, as you might do when waiting to catch a train?
Swiss Mercenary on 1/3/2006 at 21:10
Quote Posted by mopgoblin
Loitering? Waiting idly in a place, as you might do when waiting to catch a train?
With an autoknife. What are you going to use it for? Opening cardboard boxes?
Havvoc on 1/3/2006 at 21:53
Autoknives and other knives that can be flipped open within a switch shouldn't be legal anyway. The only people who need those are law enforcement, firemen, paramedics, military, etc. The common man has no need for an instantly deploying knife. Other knives are fine. Mine's a locking knife, so it's perfect for cutting boxes and such. I had to do that not ten minutes ago, and the little plastic tie things. If I hadn't had the knife on me, I wouldn't have been able to do that. Such knives are very useful in certain situations, whereas automatic knives are useful only in emergency situations, hence, the common man has no need for them and should not be allowed to possess them (without a permit, obviously). Catch my drift yet?
Naartjie on 1/3/2006 at 22:40
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Originally posted by Havvoc:In my opinion... Wallace should've kicked all your Britty arses. Scotland forever!
(Kidding, I'm part British. And Scottish. And Irish. And German. And Cherokee. I'm a mutt, but I'm proud of my heritage.)
William Wallace fought against the English, not the British, because Britain didn't exist in the 14th century. And even if it had, Wallace would, as a Scot,
have been British as well. You are also not British, Scottish, Irish, German or Cherokee: seems to me like you don't know the first thing about those other cultures you list as your 'heritage'. You're American, just be proud of that. :)
