Tough State vs. Weak State re: Knife Laws

[Mark W Douglas]

In the news last night it was mentioned that the state of Massachusetts has the toughest most strick laws regarding guns in the U.S. and the deaths are the lowest resulting from guns while Louisiana was the weakest most laxed in their gun laws which has the most deaths do to guns with in the U.S.A.

Which State has the strickest knife laws vs. the State that has the least strickest knife laws in the U.S.? Do the statistics hold true for these states as well?

Mark

 

[Mark W Douglas]

and to expand even deeper, which countries are the toughest with their knife laws?

 

[RH]

First things first, those stats seem highly suspect. Check John Lott's work or myriad threads over on thefiringline.com for better data.

 

[Mark W Douglas]

I don't know, this is what was said on the evening news last night.

 

Ever thought that News may be lying on purpose?
Nowadays it's called "infotainment" meaning it's more important to entertain the sheeple than to be real information....
Crime Bill's crime bill & so on.

------------------
D.T. UTZINGER

[This message has been edited by ZUT&ZUT (edited 04-18-2000).]

 

[Razoredj]

Those statistics, brilliantly and articulately stated though they may have been, are a load of crap. Saying, "I dunno, I heard it on the evening news" in no way lends credibility to such a statement. One of the characteristics of Pro-Gun-Prohibition statistics is either poor sampling or outright twisting of the available data.

While I can't comment on a statewide level, it is a FACT that the CITIES with the strictest gun control laws are also the cities with the highest rates of violent crime, such as Washington DC and New York City.

Violence is NOT determined by the availability of weapons. Violence is determined by a society's CULTURE, and as a result, the oft-quoted examples of high-gun-prohibition, low-crime nations like Japan or England are meaningless -- since you can find examples of nations like Israel or Switzerland, where citizens have ready access to firearms but low gun crime, or nations like Mexico or Columbia, where firearms are more or less banned but people are being gunned down in the streets every day. That's a question of culture, not weapons availability.

As for knives, laws that restrict knife ownership are also MEANINGLESS in terms of crime prevention, because the majority of stabbings that occur in the United States are the result of domestic disputes involving kitchen cutlery.


Razor

------------------
AKTI #A000845
And tomorrow when you wake up it will be worse.



[This message has been edited by Razoredj (edited 04-18-2000).]

 

[Mark W Douglas]

As said by: Razoredj
"Those statistics, brilliantly and articulately stated though they may have been, are a load of crap. Saying, "I dunno, I heard it on the evening news" in no way lends credibility to such a statement. One of the characteristics of Pro-Gun-Prohibition statistics is either poor sampling or outright twisting of the available data."

Well excuse me for inquiring .... believe what I heard on the evening news or not, that's your choice! All I was wondering out of curiousity is the laws pertaining to knives from tough to not so tough, I was just using the gun example that was reported in the news as to my question re: knives!

Thank you Razoredj!
Mark

P.S. Razoredgj, what, no profile, email, or anything? Hmmmm, credibility. OOOPS, did I just enter into a flame war starting here? Geez, I sure hope not!



[This message has been edited by Mark W Douglas (edited 04-18-2000).]

 

[Kellster]

As far as the gun law quotes, total BS, which is what antigun activists are made of. No offense to original poster.

As far as knife laws, it seems they are poorly written and extremely vague, from what I've read. It would be hard to say if the knife laws are strict when they are so vague and unclear.

------------------
A knife is by default a tool, it's only a weapon when a human chooses to make it so.

 

[Mark W Douglas]

Maybe there wouldn't be any crime if everyone carried knives and guns. Everyone would be afraid of everybody

As Archie Bunker said in one of his shows:
Arm everyone with weapons on a plane and then there would be no hi-jackings

Mark

Back to the OLD WEST!


[This message has been edited by Mark W Douglas (edited 04-18-2000).]

 

[James Mattis]

For arguments over the Right to Keep and Bear Arms generally, expressions of annoyance over the other guy's position and/or the evils of Network News, and preaching to the choir on the virtues of an armed society, we have the Politics Forum.

It would be good in a knife forum to collect knowledge (and dispel rumor) on what jurisdictions are friendly or unfriendly to the possession and carrying of shiny sharp objects. It would also be nice to know if there is any correlation between that and the rate of arterial bleeding, but I suspect that any such statistics would scarce and dubious.


------------------
- JKM
www.chaicutlery.com
AKTI Member # SA00001

 

[Razoredj]

P.S. Razoredgj, what, no profile, email, or anything? Hmmmm, credibility. OOOPS, did I just enter into a flame war starting here? Geez, I sure hope not!

And to think...by refusing to post that information, I'm depriving myself of the pleasure of carrying on an unsolicited e-mail conversation with you. My loss.

Razor

------------------
AKTI #A000845
And tomorrow when you wake up it will be worse.

 

[CAL]

I live in Vermont and up here we have no gun laws except the federal laws so I think the Te Wee News Cast is wrong.

I have called the State Attorney's General and asked about the laws concerning knives and got a big run around. I don't think they even know what the laws are. I was told not to carry an automatic knife though. I asked if it was OK to carry an automatic handgun and they said yes but, don't have an automatic knife. Go figure!!

I have found that it is hard to get the State laws covering knives so I don't think I can really help you with your question. Alabama has some very vague knife laws but, seem on the whole to be less strict than other places I have heard about.

I hope this helps.

 

[Cougar Allen]

The interesting thing about that television program is not the claim that gun laws reduce crime -- that lie is easily refuted by anyone who bothers to look into it -- it's the characterization of states that respect the rights of their citizens as "weak" and those that don't as "tough." Several people posting in this thread seem to have unconsciously absorbed those attitudes. It's not too hard to resist being influenced by simple lies about the facts; it's much more difficult to resist being influenced by more subtle propaganda that is designed to avoid being examined by the conscious mind at all.

-Cougar Allen :{)
If liberty is weak and fascism is tough ... who won WWII?

 

[greggmw]

Alabama doesn't appear to have any folder length limits, only fixed blade length limits.

The state code, states that any bowie type knife over 11" total length can not be concealed. Also it outlaws concealment of dirks or daggers (blades sharpened on both sides, I think). I don't remember if a folder can be a dirk...probably. I also don't remember if open carry of 11"+ bowie type knife is legal. I'll have to do another search!


I talked with a Deputy Sherrif in Madison Co., who is a knife knut of sorts, and he was not aware of any folder length limits, concealed or not. He also indicated that cities may have their own ordinances limiting anything under the sun...and may be even more strict than the state laws. I think Denver and Seattle may have this situation.

I also know you can buy an automatic at the local flea market, junk or good stuff. The dealer there told me that they're ok to carry, but do not cross state lines...ie. felony.

Does anyone know the folder length for carry on US flights.

wayne

 

[e_utopia]

The FAA lists 4" folders (and I think they say non-serratied, but I'm not certain), but that doesn't mean you will not be hassled for a knife by the security guard. And an individual airport may have a limit on the size/type of knives allowed in their terminal (if you can get the knife from the checkpoint to the plane without actually going through the distance between, you can avoid that problem, but if you figure out a way to achieve that little stunt, please let me know).

--JB

------------------
e_utopia@hotmail.com

 

[Mark W Douglas]

Originally Posted By Kellster: As far as knife laws, it seems they are poorly written and extremely vague, from what I've read. It would be hard to say if the knife laws are strict when they are so vague and unclear.
------------------
A knife is by default a tool, it's only a weapon when a human chooses to make it so.

I guess in a way we ought to be happy that the knife laws are so vague from state to state and not as clear or tough as gun laws are. Course too, it would be even nicer if some of the knife laws that are more clear and tough weren't so tough. Afterall, it was originally a tool and that should take presedence over it being a weopon! Keep it as a tool and keep the knife legal. And if you use the knife as a weapon of self defense pertaining to your job (police, military, etc.), isn't that actually considered your tool for survival? That's one of the reasons it's legal for police, military, etc.) to carry automatics!

Mark

 

[Kellster]

I agree with you Mark. The laws are a double edged sword, (pardon the pun). They're vague for the most part (anyone disagree?) and lend themselves to be interpreted differently depending on the circumstances. I know this is wavering away from the original question. I think my home state of MA is relatively "strict" about knives. But I think the bottom line is if you are a person that is likely to come under the scrutiny of law enforcement, it doesnt really matter what the laws are. If you are more discrete, if you will, then it still doesnt really matter.

------------------
A knife is by default a tool, it's only a weapon when a human chooses to make it so.

 

[RH]

Amen, Razoredj. You establish credibilty by your posts, not by an e-mail address. How has this become such a bome of contention here ? I will post a new topic on this.

 

[Mark W Douglas]

Here is the topic thread RH is referring to:

http://www.bladeforums.com/ubb/Forum54/HTML/000556.html


Mark

 

[ChaosKitten]

As another resident of MA (in the Boston area too!) I thought I'd pipe up. While I haven't been able to find any actual LAWS against your typical non-double edge, non-automatic knife, a conversation with a lawyer a while back suggests that "case law" has a very negative view of using knives for self defense. In fact, he strongly suggested that if one wanted a "deadly force weapon" for self defense, to get the right permits for concealed carry of a firearm and use that. Apparently it's "better" (from a defend yourself in court point of view) to shoot someone with a registered firearm than to cut them with a knife.