Does it offend you...

[Franciscomv]

I like weapons and feel that I have the right (and, sadly, the need) to prepare the best I can for an emergency in which fighting might be my only way out. I won't apologize about that. I train everyday, and if I said that I just do it to stay fit or because I like competing in wrestling and muay thai tournaments I'd be lying, self defense is a very real concern for me.

I have some knives exclusively for self defense, but honestly I like the ones that are good cutting tools better. My country has a long tradition of knife fighting, and in families with strong ties to rural folk culture like mine it is still important. Guns aren't an option outside of our homes since carry permits are impossible for regular civilians to get because of overly restrictive laws and a left wing government that's trying suppress private gun ownership all together. Knives are quite better than fists.

I live in a dangerous third world country. When I lived in a small town in Switzerland I was fine with just a little slipjoint, down here I'd drive a tank to work in the morning if I could.

Not everybody lives in a safe city or in a free country where they can carry guns for self defense.

I'm super low profile, I don't go around looking for trouble or hang out in seedy parts of town if I can avoid it, but I won't apologize for trying to do everything in my power to tip the scales in my favour should a fight be impossible to avoid.

 

[popedandy]

I don't expect other people to think the same way I do, so it doesn't offend me. I don't share their outlook, but that is the case with many things.

 

[tltt]

It really depends on the person, I've dealt with and enjoyed conversations with many people who's primary interest in knives is there martial usage. Every once and awhile you'll meet folks that have what can be best described as a bloodlust when it comes to knives, those are the only ones that make me crinkle my nose.

 

[killgar]

Knives make for very poor defense weapons.

I find that a strange comment considering the countless people who have successfully used knives to defend themselves throughout human history. I can't count how many stories I've seen of women using knives to save themselves from rape, or worse. I'm glad they didn't believe that knives made poor defensive weapons, they might have left them at home. And I know several cops who all carry knives, both for utility, and for use as a weapon. Any cop will tell you that one of, if not their greatest fear, is that they will wind up in a grappling match with one or more perps and have their gun taken away. I know many cops who carry a knife, and train to use their knife as a weapon, to deal with such situations.

Today, with a more complex society, and added problems of violence, I still think a knife is a very poor weapon. With 40 out of the 50 states now having CCW's, I'd go with a firearm if I need a weapon. Living in Maryland, a CCW is not in the cards, so I make do with other tools. Any knife I carry is just a utilitarian cutting tool.

An argument could be made that people shouldn't be allowed to carry conceald firearms, even with permits, because of the potential that they will use their firearms inappropriately and that would hurt all gun rights, perhaps even insite people to push for an all-out gun ban. But I for one wouldn't make such an argument. I think it's silly to suggest that people shouldn't exercise their legal right to carry whatever weapon the law says they can carry simply because of how irrational people might respond to their fear.

Frankly, I don't lose any sleep worrying that we will lose our knife rights or suffer from more restrictive laws. I live in the very liberal state of California, and I'm sure there have been many horrible crimes commited with knives in California over the past several decades, robberies, rapes, brutal multiple homicides, but not only have the knife laws NOT gotten stricter, they've actually gotten more lenient. Specifically, a special exemption was written into the law to allow the possession and carrying of one-handed opening manual folders. From what I've seen, the fear that the "inappropriate" use of knives will result in stricter laws just isn't proven by evidence. If countless brutal homicides and rapes won't result in stricter knife laws, I don't think some dumb kid flipping his folder at the mall will do it.

I don't like it when people act irresponsibly with knives, but there are a lot of stupid things that people do that I don't like. I guess that's just life.