Step 1: Ban Guns, (check) Step 2: Ban Swords, (check)

hi-power · Post by **hi-power** » Mon Mar 05, 2007 5:33 pm

The slope slide continues in Great Britain.

Samurai swords to be banned
By Emma Henry and agencies
Last Updated: 12:56pm GMT 05/03/2007

The sale of imitation samurai swords could be banned by the end of the year, the Home Office announced today.

Importing or hiring the weapons could also be made illegal following a string of samurai sword attacks in recent years.

Breaching the ban, which is targeted at cheap imitation samurai swords rather than the more expensive genuine collectors' items made by licensed swordsmiths in Japan, would result in up to six months in jail and a Â£5,000 fine.

Collectors and martial arts enthusiasts owning or using genuine samurai swords would be exempt from the ban

According to Home Office estimates, there have been at least 80 serious crimes involving the swords in England and Wales over the last four years.

One MP recently warned that they were being used by criminal gangs as the preferred weapon of choice after guns.

Last month, amphetamine addict Hugh Penrose was jailed for at least 19 years for hacking a 21-year-old woman with a samurai sword and then deliberately running her over.

In October, Bradley Moran was jailed for 17 years for murdering another man with a samurai sword following an argument in a nightclub.

It is currently legal to buy samurai swords - which are freely available at martial arts shops and on the internet - provided they are not brandished in a public place.

The Home Office now wants to ban their sale as part of a wider crackdown on knives and bladed weapons.

Carrying a samurai sword in a public place already attracts a maximum jail sentence of four years.

Vernon Coaker, the Home Office minister, said today: "Samurai sword crime is low in volume but high in profile and I recognise it can have a devastating impact.

"Banning the sale, import and hire will take more dangerous weapons out of circulation, making our streets safer.

"We recognise it is the cheap, easily-available samurai swords which are being used in crime and not the genuine, more expensive samurai swords which are of interest to collectors and martial arts enthusiasts."

"It is already illegal to have a samurai sword in a public place but I want to restrict the number of dangerous weapons in circulation to enhance community safety."

The plans are outlined in a consultation paper, Banning Offensive Weapons, published by the Home Office today.

At present there are 17 weapons, including knuckle-dusters and batons, on the Offensive Weapons Order.

The exemptions would be for groups such as the To-ken Society of Great Britain and the British Kendo Association.

Last year, Tory MP James Brokenshire (Hornchurch) said cheap samurai swords were as easy to buy "as purchasing a Lotto ticket".

KBCraig · Post by **KBCraig** » Mon Mar 05, 2007 6:34 pm

Yeah, that'll work. Because swords are so incredibly high tech and such a complex mechanism, they'll be impossible to acquire from the black market.

Venus Pax · Post by **Venus Pax** » Mon Mar 05, 2007 7:49 pm

This goes to show you that people that want to attack will find a way. You can't ban everything.

Big_Hitter · Post by **Big_Hitter** » Mon Mar 05, 2007 8:11 pm

so that highlander stuff is for real then

SC1903A3 · Post by **SC1903A3** » Mon Mar 05, 2007 8:29 pm

There can be only one.

Smokewagon · Post by **Smokewagon** » Mon Mar 05, 2007 8:37 pm

If I had my druthers... I'd druther be shot.

Stupid · Post by **Stupid** » Mon Mar 05, 2007 9:15 pm

Actually good sword is very high tech stuff and very expensive.

HighVelocity · Post by **HighVelocity** » Mon Mar 05, 2007 9:27 pm

Ban samurai swords and they'll use Kendo sticks, ban that and they'll use garden hoses. The british government is trying to change human nature. Pencils in schools will be next.

KBCraig · Post by **KBCraig** » Mon Mar 05, 2007 9:28 pm

Stupid wrote:Actually good sword is very high tech stuff and very expensive.

The good, expensive ones will still be legal. They're banning the cheapos with the fake etched hamon lines.

For the purposes of armed robbery, there's no high tech or quality required. Wouldn't even required hardened steel; simple 1020 with a ground edge would do.

O6nop · Post by **O6nop** » Mon Mar 05, 2007 9:59 pm

Last month, amphetamine addict Hugh Penrose was jailed for at least 19 years for hacking a 21-year-old woman with a samurai sword and then deliberately running her over.

Let's ban cars next, they are deadly!

Stupid · Post by **Stupid** » Mon Mar 05, 2007 10:37 pm

that is very true. Cars kill more people than pretty much anything.

O6nop wrote: Let's ban cars next, they are deadly!

bigdook · Post by **bigdook** » Mon Mar 05, 2007 10:55 pm

next thing you know they will be banning rocks.

Stupid · Post by **Stupid** » Mon Mar 05, 2007 11:30 pm

I think pencil is better bet.

I am still shocked they haven't ban box cutters yet. What are they waiting for?

bigdook wrote:next thing you know they will be banning rocks.

Houston1944 · Post by **Houston1944** » Mon Mar 05, 2007 11:59 pm

A few years ago I spent a few weeks in India. No guns ever seen in that country expect for the WWII rifles used to guard the airport. Based on the newspaper articles I read during my visit the weapon of choice was a small container of gas and a match. Personally I think I would have preferred being shot.

stevie_d_64 · Post by **stevie_d_64** » Tue Mar 06, 2007 1:15 am

Can you imagine what damage I could do with a pen/pencil!

Oh the humanity!