First they came for the guns

[OffWithTheirHeads]

Actual sign in Britain

[Chemisse]

1. Guess they are more than a little paranoid over there. - nt

[MadMaddie]

2. Well considering that they had a huge uptik in stabbings within youth

18 and under they may have felt that had no choice.

[Chemisse]

4. But butter knives?

Actually, my school doesn't even offer plastic butter knives with the hot lunch.

[MadMaddie]

8. I think it would be hard to justify some knives versus all knives

This way it's a blanket coverage and no issues.

[benEzra]

29. Replace the word "knives" with the phrase "things that can be used as weapons"

and you have nicely summed up the UK mindset, I think.

[iverglas]

14. yes, foreigners are like that

Paranoid, stupid, fascistic ...

[panader0]

3. Next they'll try to confiscate the guillotines!!

[liberalmuse]

5. No good can come of a child under 18 owning a butter knife.

I don't know of any person under 18 who is at all interested in purchasing fine cutlery. They prefer sabers, switchblades and pocket knives.

[SergeStorms]

6. Photoshopped perhaps?

I can't believe they'd consider eating utensils weapons. :shrug:

Kitchen knives I could understand, but table knives?

[Euromutt]

9. No, it's real enough; in fact, it gets worse

If you look on the websites of British stores like Tesco (http://direct.tesco.com/q/N.1999430/Nr.99.aspx), you'll see proof of age is required. And earlier this year, The Register ran a piece about Asda requiring proof of age to buy teaspoons (http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/05/11/asda_teaspoons/).

Yes, it really is that bad.

[X_Digger]

10. Sadly, no..

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/5032794.stm

The Offensive Weapons Act of 1996 amended the 1988 Act to outlaw the sale of knives and other bladed items to under-16s.

The maximum penalty for breaking that law is six months in jail and/or a £5,000 fine.

Meanwhile, the Violent Crime Reduction Bill, which is currently making its way through Parliament, aims to up the minimum age someone can buy a knife to 18.

Other pieces of legislation include the Knives Act 1997, which creates offences relating to the marketing of knives in a manner to encourage violent behaviour, or as combat weapons.

The Act extended police powers to stop and search suspects, which are contained in the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act.

[PavePusher]

13. Not a fake.

Those signs were up when I left England two years ago.

Thankfully they never saw my full-auto Benchmade folder, collapsing baton, or various other improvised self-defense, ahem, I mean utility tools.

[GunGuyinPA]

38. Not photoshopped

The researchers said there was no reason for long pointed knives to be publicly available at all.

They consulted 10 top chefs from around the UK, and found such knives have little practical value in the kitchen.



http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/4581871.stm



THANK GOD WE HAVE THE 2nd AMENDMENT!

[onehandle]

7. First the they came for the crybabies.

Wah!

A years old law, slightly updated years later in a far away land means they are coming for my guns!

Wahh!

[OffWithTheirHeads]

12. Jesus, there is one in every thread

No manners whatsoever.
welcome to ignore asshole.

[iverglas]

16. says the poster of pointless posts

[onehandle]

20. Oh no!

However will I get over this!

Waaaahhhhh!

lol!

[Tim01]

23. Ha ha! Laughing AT you. nt

[Euromutt]

27. What's that line of Santayana's again?

"Those who refuse to learn from history are doomed to repeat it"? Something to that effect, anyway.

The United Kingdom provides an illustrative lesson of the failure of crime prevention by addressing the means and ignoring the causes (usually a result of mistaking the means for the causes). First, H.M. Government outlawed semi-automatic long guns. When that didn't work, they banned handguns. Then they had to go after swords, then fighting knives, then folding knives, and now they feel they have to restrict fucking butter knives. Every urban center has been blanketed with surveillance cameras, none of which has done any appreciable amount of good in curbing crime. Nor have national identity cards. Every single time it's faced with the reality that its last set of measures haven't worked, H.M. Government's response is not "let's try something different," but rather "do it again, only harder."

Over five years ago, Lord Woolf, the Lord Chief Justice, concluded that the Labour government had failed to live up to the second half of its 1997 campaign promise "tough on crime, tough on the causes of crime." http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/blair-has-not-been-tough-on-the-causes-of-crime-says-woolf-560922.html

Which is hardy surprising, given its fixation on the means. There's a lesson in this for other countries.

[aquart]

11. Forks can do a lot of damage. Especially in the eyeball.

[oneshooter]

18. You are right

Haven't you ever been Forked? Perhaps when you were spooning? Dangerous items on the public market.

Oneshooter
Livin in Texas

[Xela]

32. LMAO!!!

Good one.

Xela

[spin]

39. And so can ballpoint pens, some are made for self defense...

The Smith & Wesson Black Tactical Pen features a CNC machined 6061 T-6 aluminum body with pull-off cap to reveal black ink ball point pen and a pointed end so it can do some real work. Includes heavy duty pocket clip. 5.7" overall.

Do you recall the old Bic commercials where they fire a Bic pen into a piece of wood and it still writes? Well I do, but I never really believed it. That is, until I had the necessary task of defending my life with the aid of a Bic pen. Coming home and alarming an intruder, I found myself locked in mortal combat with a very large man who was intent on killing me. My only weapon was the Bic Cristal ballpoint pen I routinely carry in the breast pocket of my starched white pinpoint oxford button down.

I was able to successfully insert my Bic Cristal ballpoint pen into the esophogial area of my attacker's throat and incapacitate him until the constables arrived to take him into custody. Paramedics removed the pen from his throat and returned it to me. Rather amazingly, I wiped the blood and a small amount of body tissue from the pen and used it to write my police statement.

Though not commonly considered a weapon of self defense, my Bic Cristal ballpoint pen proved to me the old adage that "the pen is mightier than the sword." (I must admit though, that I would have far preferred a sword had I the option to choose beforehand.) All in all, a five star rating for this dual-use pen.
http://www.amazon.com/review/R1SN2V0H62VT5F

"Improvised Weapons" is a term used to represent common everyday objects that can be used is a variety of defensive applications. These objects are not physically altered in any way, in an effort to make them more functional as weapons. They are generally utilized in their normal state. Improvised Weapons can include items such as ball-point pens, combs, etc.
http://www.usadojo.com/articles/defensive-use-improvised-weapons.htm

As can a tightly rolled up magazine as shown in this video.
http://www.ehow.com/video_4467605_using-magazine-as-weapon-womens.html

[iverglas]

15. There must be some reason why this is in the Guns forum

...

[Fire_Medic_Dave]

25. There must be some reason you responded to it.

:eyes:

[rl6214]

41. Oh come on now

even YOU should be able to figure this our!

[damntexdem]

17. Well, that's a good idea for many of the guns.

Silverware, well that's different.

[Endangered Specie]

19. Its already law in the US that you must be 21 to purchase handguns

18 for long guns.

[OffWithTheirHeads]

21. I'm sorry, I can't hear you. You have been ignored

For being a pathetic looser who can't carry on a reasonable discussion without insulting your Host. I guess your mama never taught you how to have a respectful discussion of opposing ideas. Oh well, I don't have time to talk to a dining room table.

[onehandle]

22. You put yourself on ignore?

Figures.

[iverglas]

24. Figures ...

But c'mon, it's still weird. ;)

[OffWithTheirHeads]

26. Sorry, still can't hear you.

You are an idiot and have been ignored because I don't have time to get into flame wars with people who live in their mother's basements

[proteus_lives]

28. That's sickening.

Sooner or later the British Government will start controlling books, movies, parties and people that it finds "potentially harmful" to its subjects.

:puke:

[Jackson1999]

31. "sooner or later"

Liverpool has proposed slapping an over 18 rating on all movies that have characters smoking.

One municipality has required criminal background checks for anyone playing soccer in town's park.

If you are a children's book writer speaking to an auditorium of school kids--background check.

Tesco has IDd customers to buy teaspoons. They have also refused to sell alcohol to parents who happen to be shopping with their kids.

I find it scary part they even have a system where you can go to the police and get a certificate that says "I am not a crook").

It is all about the children, of course.


Quick Tesco story--Last time I was in the UK I went to Tesco to buy some toothpaste. "so sorry" I was told, "we seem to be out of stock". Way to perpetuate a stereotype guys.

[iverglas]

34. oh for fuck's sake

Tesco has IDd customers to buy teaspoons.

Twice in one thread ...

It was Asda, not Tesco. (US readers: Walmart).

It was a shop assistant (at least they haven't adopted the moronic "associate" to describe lowest-level employees.)


http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/5278586/Shopper-asked-for-proof-of-age-to-buy-Asda-teaspoons.html

Peter McCarthy, the Asda Halifax store manager, said he was unaware of the spoon ID rule.

He said: "The customer will have been asked for age identification by the assistant when prompted by the till. I'm not aware of an age restriction for spoons.

"It's most likely a mix-up with the bar codes."

Or it was an inadequately trained teenager who'd heard about some rule about cutlery and got officious when challenged and made up his/her own.


They have also refused to sell alcohol to parents who happen to be shopping with their kids.

Not even the bleeding Daily Mail put that down to anything but silliness.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-566340/Tesco-bans-parents-buying-alcohol-OWN-children.html

Parents shopping with their own children are being refused alcohol by over-zealous supermarket staff - for fear they are supplying drink to minors.

Workers have been told not to serve adults accompanied by children in the latest crack-down on underage drinking.

However diligent shop staff are applying the letter of the law and refusing to serve parents who are on weekly shopping trips with their children.

... Tesco today said they trained their store workers to ask for proof of age for anyone present at the purchase who they suspect may consume the alcohol.

But they admitted: "Quite often they may be mistaken and the adult may be buying it for themselves.

"But we would rather the staff err on the side of caution than risk selling to someone who is buying alcohol for people who are under age."

So would I, frankly.

The driving force behind much of the lawlessness in the UK is alcohol abuse by the very young.

"Tackle the root causes!!!" is the cry of the gun militant hereabouts.

Well, that's what they're trying to do. Now let's all whine about nanny states.

[Remmah2]

46. Fork them? nt

nt

[benEzra]

30. "Secure beneath the watchful eyes"...

[Xela]

33. It's a kitchen knife set for crying out loud...

Another example:
http://www.robertdyas.co.uk/P~134213~Masterclass+Acero+3+Piece+Stainless+Steel+Knife+Set+-+In+Store+Only

"Please note we are not permitted to sell a knife or blade to any person under the age of 18. Criminal Justice Act 1988 (as amended)"

Xela

[iverglas]

35. uh, yes, and?

It's actually a sign in the cutlery section of a department store.

Nobody in the US ever been stabbed to death with a kitchen knife?

[E-Mag]

40. you are right there is no slippery slope in GB they

Will make every possible weapon banned or 18+.

but then again Nobody in Canada ever been stabbed to death with a kitchen knife?

[JonQ]

36. Next thing you know they'll be banning glass in public

oh wait . . .

[Xela]

37. Just bought a Finn M35 bayonet

Out the door, no questions asked. I can't wait to get home to try on my M28/30.

Arguably one of the most desirable collectors items in the surplus Finn market.

I would hate for this kind of freedom going the way of Britain.

Finn bayonets info, including the M35:
http://www.mosinnagant.net/finland/Finn-bayonets.asp

Finn M28/30 rifle:
http://www.mosinnagant.net/finland/MosinNagant-M2830rifle-introduction.asp

Xela

[OffWithTheirHeads]

44. Sweet! I had'nt ever heard of a 28/30.

I've got a 91/30 and a 44.
Sure are a kick in the ass to shoot! Especially for $100.00

[Xela]

45. How was the reading on Finn Mosin Nagants?

I hope you had a "blast" with the links :)

You may have noticed that Finn rifles are a different league compared to the Russians (unless one makes the comparison with say a sniper variation). And the prices go along accordingly. Not only because of their accuracy, but because of their quality, rarity, history, and coolness factor :)

I unfortunately got addicted to the M28/30 (especially the ones used by the SkY), one of the more desirable ones. (Sigh) I got mine for 100.00 about ten years ago. Found it in a pawn shop, and it was also my first rifle ever, and a surplus one to boot.

Since then, I've seen them go for at least high 300's up to about 600 bucks at gun shows an auction sites.

Regarding the bayonet, I have been informed that historically is not a correct match for my rifle (given that the bayonet is not marked as having been used by the SkY), but that as far as Finn bayonets go "it should be just fine" until I find a true match. After all, it is of the same period and it does technically match the rifle (that is, it actually fits my "Pystykorvaan").

Xela

[Tejas]

42. guns, butter knives, then fire extinguishers

As noted recently by Britain's nannies, fire extinguishers in the kitchen can lead to tragedy and should only be used by professionals and therefor should be banned.

[Euromutt]

43. I think that last one turned out to be the Sun making shit up

British newspapers have a bit of a tendency to fabricate details to spice up stories, and the Sun and the Mail significantly more than most.