Knife Control in London? It proves Our Point.
For those who wonder what the end-game of gun control fanatics is, consider what is occurring in London.
In response to the rising levels of violence in his city, London Mayor Sadiq Khan has announced a crackdown on knives. Despite some of the toughest gun control laws in the world, London surpassed New York City’s homicide rate last year for the first time.
Replace the word “knife” with “gun” and one can see the only possible end game for progressive lawmakers is to deny law-abiding citizens of any opportunity to defend themselves against those who have no regard for the law.
Khan tweeted: “‘No excuses: there is never a reason to carry a knife… Anyone who does will be caught, and they will feel the full force of the law.”
What has followed in the wake of London’s knife attack epidemic is predictable: the call for the end to knives, street side bans where citizens surrender their instruments of death, and government funded studies to “address the problem.”
Robert Tracinsk, a senior writer for The Federalist, observed, “If you set out to write a parody showing the folly of gun control, it might look something like this.”
If you listen to what the left is saying, your false sense of feeling safe is far more important than being safe. Londoners are encouraged to trust the government, give up their knives, and rest assured they can now “feel safe.”
Every year in our country, people use firearms lawfully to defend life at a rate of three to one criminal ones. All the while, ever-increasing gun control laws target law-abiding citizens’ right to defend themselves and their family.
Mayor Khan’s plans to tackle the city’s rising crime rates with “targeted patrols” that have expanded stop and search authority for “areas worst-affected by knife crime.”
People who think for themselves might say this sounds familiar. Think the successful yet much maligned “stop and frisk” laws of New York City. Targeting specific areas sounds a lot like racial profiling.
The United Kingdom strictly regulates guns yet a major metropolitan area like London has seen its murder rate surpass a city of roughly equal size – New York City. While that city has enjoyed a steady decline in violent crimes over the last decade, Londoners are afraid to walk on the streets in several sections of the city.
Mayor Khan’s answer – enact a law that penalizes law-abiding citizens. It is now illegal to carry a knife longer than three inches in public ‘without good reason.’
The courts make the sole determination if a person’s reason to carry a knife is valid. Acceptable reasons for carrying a knife include if one is necessary for a person’s work or if it is being transported to a gallery for exhibition.
Self-defense is not listed among the examples of ‘good reasons to carry a knife.’
Dr. John Crichton, chairman of Scotland’s Royal College of Psychiatrists, has proposed the sale of pointed kitchen knives be banned to reduce the number of fatal stabbings. Crichton is championing a switch to so-called ‘R’-bladed knives, which have rounded points and are far less effective as weapons.
Replace “‘R’-bladed knives” with “hunting rifles” and one can see Joe Biden telling citizens he doesn’t want to deprive them of their sport.
There is much to learn from the London example.
On one hand, we have a nation in which the availability of guns has been increasing as violent crime has gone down consistently, year over year.
On the other hand is a nation known for its strict gun control and confiscation of firearms, but with violent crime increasing.
The availability of guns is not the primary driver of crime in either city. Neither guns nor knives are the real problem.
Tracinski has a friend who said to him, “You can’t parody this anymore.”
“Only after we finally defeat the National Cutlery Association,” replied Tracinski, “and purge our politics of the corrupting influence of the rope manufacturers’ lobby.”
When one asks if there is any end to what progressives want when it comes to gun control, look to London and remember why our forefathers wanted no more of it.
The oft-repeated mantra of left-wing elitists in the U.S. is – “Nobody wants to take your guns”. That is usually followed by claims they support the Second Amendment as much as the right.
Really?
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