Knives Ban to reduce deaths from stabbing…
Liberals Call for Knife Control
21 November 2014
By Gary DeMar
It had to happen. We’ve been told for decades that gun control has curtailed violence in Great Britain. With no guns around, people who are intent on doing harm are using knives. So, of course, there is now the call for knife control.
“The new ‘Save a Life – Surrender Your Knife’ program is in full swing and police are telling us that they have joined forces with an already growing trend in the United Kingdom to ban ‘pointy’ knives.”
Why not go to the local prison and see how well knife control works.
At first, it thought the “Save a Life – Surrender Your Life” campaign (and it still may be), but as far as I can tell it’s the real deal. They even have a sign.
The Lancashire Police have “joined forces with the ground-breaking national anti-knife crime campaign ‘Save a Life, Surrender Your Knife’, as the force’s knife amnesty comes to an end.”
“Since the amnesty began at the end of August, more than 800 knives have been handed in across the county – including swords, machetes and commando knives. The amnesty was extended for a further week owing to its success.
“Lancashire officers have now given their backing to a national initiative designed to raise awareness of knife crime and encourage the surrender of dangerous weapons.
“The British Ironwork Centre, which is coordinating the project, intends to use the collected knives to create a 20 feet high guardian angel sculpture in memory of those whose lives have so tragically been lost.
“Despite the amnesty ending this week, police say people can continue to hand in any knife at any police station with a front counter as well being able to drop them into the designated bins.”
I can see all the criminals heading straight for the bins to turn in their knives.
Doctors’ kitchen knives ban call
26 May, 2005
A&E; doctors are calling for a ban on long pointed kitchen knives to reduce deaths from stabbing.
A team from West Middlesex University Hospital said violent crime is on the increase – and kitchen knives are used in as many as half of all stabbings.
They argued many assaults are committed impulsively, prompted by alcohol and drugs, and a kitchen knife often makes an all too available weapon.
The research is published in the British Medical Journal.
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.
None of the chefs felt such knives were essential, since the point of a short blade was just as useful when a sharp end was needed.
The researchers said a short pointed knife may cause a substantial superficial wound if used in an assault – but is unlikely to penetrate to inner organs.
Kitchen knives can inflict appalling wounds
In contrast, a pointed long blade pierces the body like “cutting into a ripe melon”.
The use of knives is particularly worrying amongst adolescents, say the researchers, reporting that 24% of 16-year-olds have been shown to carry weapons, primarily knives.
The study found links between easy access to domestic knives and violent assault are long established.
French laws in the 17th century decreed that the tips of table and street knives be ground smooth.
A century later, forks and blunt-ended table knives were introduced in the UK in an effort to reduce injuries during arguments in public eating houses.
The researchers say legislation to ban the sale of long pointed knives would be a key step in the fight against violent crime.
“The Home Office is looking for ways to reduce knife crime.
“We suggest that banning the sale of long pointed knives is a sensible and practical measure that would have this effect.”
Government response
Home Office spokesperson said there were already extensive restrictions in place to control the sale and possession of knives.
“The law already prohibits the possession of offensive weapons in a public place, and the possession of knives in public without good reason or lawful authority, with the exception of a folding pocket knife with a blade not exceeding three inches.
“Offensive weapons are defined as any weapon designed or adapted to cause injury, or intended by the person possessing them to do so.
“An individual has to demonstrate that he had good reason to possess a knife, for example for fishing, other sporting purposes or as part of his profession (e.g. a chef) in a public place.
“The manufacture, sale and importation of 17 bladed, pointed and other offensive weapons have been banned, in addition to flick knives and gravity knives.”
A spokesperson for the Association of Chief Police Officers said: “ACPO supports any move to reduce the number of knife related incidents, however, it is important to consider the practicalities of enforcing such changes.”
2006-06-19?
COLOGNE (Reuters) – World Cup soccer causes joy and despair and even ends marriages but now doctors are studying whether the thrill of it all can be literally heart stopping.
Previous research during international soccer tournaments has found an increase in the general incidence of heart attacks, particularly on days when tense matches have had fans on the edge of their seats.
In the new FIFA-approved study researchers will receive blood samples from heart attack victims all over Germany watching football at the time of the attack, allowing them to look for traces of stress hormones that can clot the blood.
Doctors will also receive samples from anyone who collapses in a stadium during a World Cup match and whose blood may show higher levels of hormones then those fans watching at home.
“Patients are asked precisely what they were doing at the time of the attack — whether they were following football on the radio or television, or even watching the pundits after the game,” David Leistner of Munich’s Ludwig Maximilians University told Reuters.
“So far, on the days when Germany has played we have received a lot more blood samples,” he added.
First results are due in October.
A study in 1998 found the number of heart attacks increased by 25 percent on the day and in the two days after England lost to Argentina in a penalty shoot out at the 1998 World Cup.
Researchers in Switzerland also found heart attacks in the country increased by 60 percent during the 2002 World Cup in Japan and South Korea — even though the Swiss team was not even competing.
The findings prompted calls for emergency heart attack equipment to be installed in stadiums during Euro 2004.
“If it really is the case that higher stress levels can increase the chance of a heart attack then attending soccer games may have to carry a health warning,” said Leistner.
Doctors advise those soccer fans who may be at greater risk of heart attack anyway due to obesity, high-cholesterol or diabetes, to refrain from drinking excessively during the World Cup tournament.
