KnifeRights.org

http://www.kniferights.org/ 

Wanted to mention this organization and the good work they’re doing. US based, and that is largely where their focus is, but I think this is an important issue, no matter where you may be located. A united front is important if we’re to counter the ever increasing encroachment on our rights.

I’m fortunate to live in a jurisdiction which is actually fairly sane in regards to knife laws. But I think it’s important that we stand together with others in jurisdictions with extant or proposed laws that can only be described as lunacy, and in order to prevent them from becoming enacted here. 

Where does it stop? Looking around the kitchen, I can see dozens of things I could hurt someone with if I had malice in my heart. Chefs knives. A heavy pepper grinder. A cast iron skillet. The cord on the electric kettle. Etc. Etc. Etc. Should we ban those things?

A knife isn’t a weapon until used as such. A lead pipe, a fork, a piece of rope, a gun – it’s all the same. A knife is a tool, and it’s the owner/user that decides to use it improperly or not. Choosing to demonize an inanimate object, instead of persecuting the criminals whose behavior is the source of the problem, is cowardly and morally bankrupt. 

One can get a license to operate a motor vehicle, a boat, a rifle, etc., etc., all of which could potentially do harm. But we’re treated like adults and accorded the right to be presumed innocent until proven guilty. If you get completely bombed and decide to do donuts in a kindergarten playground, then clearly you deserve to not only lose the right to operate a motor vehicle, but suffer the consequences of other penalties. But just as much as we don’t go on the assumption that someone may drive drunk, and take their car away pre-emptively, why are knives banned outright? Personally I’m at about the halfway point of my life, and have carried a knife since I was a child. I’ve never assaulted, threatened or harmed anyone with a knife, and have no plans to. I have no criminal record. I’d like to be treated like the responsible adult I am, and be accorded the right to carry whatever I want to carry. Fortunately we haven’t gotten to the point of denying knife rights where I am, and I strive to keep it that way.