Knife Lovers seen as Monsters

Q

Quiff

Joined
Aug 10, 2013
Messages
92
I'm a Taiwanese and I live in Taipei.
Compare to most parts of the world,
this is a rather safe country/city.

And the knife laws here are pretty tolerant too,
with no restrict on blade lengths whatsoever,
as long as you don't open carry a big fixed blade around,
you won't get into trouble.

The government mainly bans samurai swords and double-edged knives,
for samurai swords are the common weapon for local gangsters.

But since May, everything changed.

A 21 yr old college student started a random mass killing on a subway train.
In the tunnels, between stations, the passengers had nowhere to hide.
With two fruit knives in his hands,
he killed 4 people, and injured another 24.

[video=youtube;Ugn6aR1VuZ0]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ugn6aR1VuZ0[/video]

Here is the actual footage on that train,
filmed by the survivors at the scene.
Be careful, for there is bloody image.

After the tragic incident,
every Taiwanese become scared to the sight of any person with a knife on them.

An innocent lady cutting fruits on a train were reported to the police and taken away immediately.
A high school student who bought a cheap fruit knife in the city,
and went home on a train with the knife, was reported also.

Pepper sprays sold out everywhere,
and there are even more than 5 copycat random stabbings since then,
where all the suspects don't know their victims at all,
and were not after their money.

Before this incident,
I can show my knives to friends outdoors, in a fast food restaurant,
and not a single person will freak out with the sight of knives,
even though there isn't a knife culture in this country.

After May,
I don't ever dare to do that again.
There were even talks to ban knives on subways.

I don't know the wound in our society will ever heal again,
and compare to the loss of that tragic incident,
a little inconvenient and bias for us knife lovers is definitely nothing.

Just a little sentimental for those who use knives on the wrong path.
 
If someone else on that subway had a fruit knife and knew how to use it against the bad guy...he would now be a hero, and so would fruit knives...
 
That's a really tragic incident indeed. I've been to Taiwan several times though I never brought a knife with me. That sucks that you now have to be more secretive and private with the use and display of your knives.
 
that's pretty bad.
This is the second video I've seen today, without really trying, of someone being attacked by a knife-wielding lunatic.

Obviously the fear is irrational and just pumped up right now because of the recent events.
Give it another 6 months and everyone will probably forget about it and things will settle back down to normal.
 
That's how Japan to got such strict knife laws, considering their knife culture.
Truly sad...
 
The man with the umbrella had the right idea. The poor lady drop her back pack and ran when this could have been to defend herself. A briefcase can do wonders in a bad situation like that one.

So sad.
 
Governments are scared these days. Paranoia is contagious.

Why the first reaction of government after something like this is a move to make everyone defenseless can be only one thing---paranoia. Media seems to be their tool.

Never will you hear how many times a gun or knife STOPPED a crime today, nor will we ever hear what legally prescribed drugs X shooter(s) was on. Just instill the fear.

Seems to be a pattern here.​

A similar thing happened in the U.S. when people were slaughtered with razors aboard four airliners. By the next day everyone in the world was required to be totally defenseless in flight.

I hope you report back to us what ultimately happens to the perpetrator. I have a guess as to how this will go....
 
Mass hysteria can unfortunately cloud normal brain function and lead to stupid laws which do nothing but oppress law abiding citizens. Have to hand it to the person with the camera phone, keeps on rolling even though there is a murdering psychopath 10 feet away.
 
Unfortunately, this is becoming the norm now. Some lone luny goes nuts, so all rest of the society has to suffer consequences in there own life because of over reaction by the society and/or government. This is how a lot of gun laws got passed here in the U.S. and knife laws in the U.K.

Common sense is becoming very uncommon.
 
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Quiff, I hope that time will allow them to get past the hysteria. It sounds like you're already quite careful on using your tools.
Warn the others you know to be careful, also.
 
jackknife said:
Unfortunately, this is becoming the norm now. Some lone luny goes nuts, so all rest of the society has to suffer consequences in there own life because of over reaction by the society and/or government. This is how a lot of gun laws got passed here in the U.S. and knife laws in the U.K.

Common sense is beaching very uncommon.
Click to expand...


Well it's easier to pass laws restricting something than it is to deal with the real issues at hand as the solutions to the real issues won't be popular.

So they pass this and that to show that they are doing something, when in fact they aren't really doing anything and most people are too stupid to realize it.

The bottom line is that people are the problem and until they really start dealing with that things will never really change for the better.
 
I lived in Taiwan for nearly a decade (I left at the end of 1992). Back, then, I always carried a SAK Spartan wherever I went, including through airports at Taiwan, Hong Kong, Japan and S. Korea with no issues. In Taiwan, I would use my knife for whatever things SAKs are used for, and never got any nervous reactions. How times have changed.

This incident is tragic in so many ways. What drives people to do these types of acts? Mental illness, evil, I don't know. Unfortunately, the innocent, law-abiding citizen is always the first and last to suffer the consequences of the evil acts of criminals. It is a knee-jerk reaction that lacks intelligent reasoning, but it could happen anywhere, even right here in the U.S.

When some fool decides to plow his car into a crowd of people, NOBODY ever demands a restriction on automobiles. Yet this happens, and often enough. A car can be a far more devastating weapon than a knife.

I enjoyed my time in Taiwan, and though I have no plans to go back, I still view it as my second home. It's sad to know that it has become gripped in the same paranoia as so much of the rest of the world.

Jim
 
A knife is an inaminant object capable of doing nothing on it own, it too a nut job to do with the knife what was done, and changed your Country forever.

Please do not place the Blane on the knife, blame the person who use it in what I would call a wrong way.

JMHO
 
Ankerson said:
Well it's easier to pass laws restricting something than it is to deal with the real issues at hand as the solutions to the real issues won't be popular.

So they pass this and that to show that they are doing something, when in fact they aren't really doing anything and most people are too stupid to realize it.

The bottom line is that people are the problem and until they really start dealing with that things will never really change for the better.
Click to expand...

The solution of someone who goes out and deliberately takes another life for any reason, And I don't believe in the insanity defense, is to hang the sunofab----. Or whatever the capital punishment is in that country. Hanging, beheading, gas chamber, firing squad. As long as people can commit murder and get off on less than a capital punishment, this will keep on happening. The knife didn't leap up into that mans hand and force him to kill those people. No more than the gun made Adam Lanza kill those school children. We are letting too many grow up with no sense of personal responsibility, or the repercussions of a lack of.

But I have a problem with nitwit politicians who think outlawing an inanimate object will solve the problem. Anyone can grind a point on a piece of metal and stab someone. They do it in prison everyday under the noses of guards. But I guess it's easier than to admit you have a people problem in your society.
 
EChoil said:
I hope you report back to us what ultimately happens to the perpetrator. I have a guess as to how this will go....
Click to expand...

The murderer asked for death sentence ever since he got caught,
said he wanted to kill himself since he was a kid,
but never had the courage to do it,
so he turned to killing instead,
and hoped that the death sentence can end his miserable life.

He's on trial since August,
and I think that's what he'll get.

The paranoia has die down a bit lately,
but one can never be too cautious to what the public will think.
 
Very sad to see (and read) what happened to these innocent people.

Knee jerk reactions to violent incidents have been seen in the western world as well...Dunblane in the UK (handgun ban & confiscation), Waco (AWB), Sandy Hook (attempt at a broader AWB) and so on.

The bottom line is that laws have never and will never prevent criminal behavior.
 
James Y said:
This incident is tragic in so many ways. What drives people to do these types of acts? Mental illness, evil, I don't know. Unfortunately, the innocent, law-abiding citizen is always the first and last to suffer the consequences of the evil acts of criminals. It is a knee-jerk reaction that lacks intelligent reasoning, but it could happen anywhere, even right here in the U.S.
Click to expand...

As I mentioned earlier, we learn everything about the suspect EXCEPT what legally prescribed drugs they were on at the time. We'll never hear that information.

I believe some of the psychotropics are behind a lot if not most of this stuff. Ever listen to the side effects described just on the drugs advertised during prime time on TV???
 
Like I said in another post, many people don't see us as gun and knife owners. To them we own weapons. Acts like this and poor biased reporting just make things worse.
 
Quiff said:
The murderer asked for death sentence ever since he got caught,
said he wanted to kill himself since he was a kid,
but never had the courage to do it,
so he turned to killing instead,
and hoped that the death sentence can end his miserable life.

He's on trial since August,
and I think that's what he'll get.

The paranoia has die down a bit lately,
but one can never be too cautious to what the public will think.
Click to expand...

That's good. I hope they carry it out, and that you can report the final outcome here. Here in the U.S. we have a "death penalty" too....at least 1% of the time.

The public will remain scared because TeeVee will keep them scared because that way they'll keep watching.
 
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