Japanese Swords Banned in the UK
To mixed response, the UK government announced new legislation this month banning the sale and ownership of replica Japanese swords.
At least five people have been killed in as many as 80 individual attacks involving the use of these replica weapons in recent years. The swords will be added to the UK offensive weapons order in April and will join such items as brass knuckles and nunchaku.
Many people feel that placing the blame for violent crimes on inanimate objects will go some way towards curbing the number of deaths from assault and attempted murder. Obviously without these swords available, those people with violent, or criminal intentions will have no way of hurting anybody and may have to keep themselves content by playing with butter knives and knitting needles.
Genuine antique experts and collectors will however be exempt from this legislation, so too will martial arts enthusiasts and instructors. As obviously people who spent their spare time collecting and polishing head removing devises, or people who enjoy practising head removing techniques, should remain, as always, above the law so that they may better serve their respective communities and continue to accidentally cut of their own fingers while doing so.
It is however only the curved single edged “Samurai style ” blades that have been targeted in this ban, leaving all European or other Asian style replicas unaffected. This is not expected to affect the 390,127 people (0.7% of the British population) who claim to be Jedi knights and are therefore compelled to carry lightsabres in public places.
The UK also has some of the strictest anti-firearm laws in the world, banning both guns and ammunition for all civilians with few exceptions. It is noteworthy however that firearms related incidences in the UK have increased year on year for the last decade.
There is no shortage of sharp pointy things in the United Kingdom for crazy people to play with. While firearms control does indeed keep some of the most dangerous items ever made out of the hands of some of the silliest people ever born, there remains no law against fence posts pointy sticks or fingernails. If a person is determined to put a hole into one of his fellows he (or she) will probably find a way to do it regardless of how legal their weapon of choice is.
Some people have claimed that a ban on replica Japanese swords will serve only to increase pressure on police and cost a large amount of taxpayers money, while at the same time show the public that the British politicians are indeed doing something about the violent crime problem. Some may suspect however that those legislators that actually have their eyes open, are looking in the wrong direction.
