Should swords be banned along with guns?

[Dis]

Originally posted by Deity Dude
Why do some people think the less they are able to defend themselves the safer they are?

They would be safer if no one else had weapons.

I would be perfectly okay if there were no guns in this world. But as long as the baddies have the guns, so then, will I (barring other circumstances that I may discuss at a later date)

[Deity Dude]

And no one would worry about money if everyone was independently wealthy. Now lets talk about the real world.

[Tim_Augustus]

Originally posted by Deity Dude
Why do some people think the more they are able to defend themselves the safer they are?

fixed.

[Deity Dude]

Please don't change my quote and call it my quote. Someone casually reading the thread might think I have that ridiculous opinion.

I said I didn't "understand why some people felt the LESS they were able to defend themselves the safer they felt."

Obviously you feel the opposite. I guess you feel if you are a totally unable to defend yourself you are totally safe and if you are totally able to defend yourself that you are unsafe.

I look at the definitions of words you seem to look at them and think they mean the opposite. Lets look at the word at hand:

defense:

noun 1. resistance against attack; protection

or defend

verb 1. to ward off attack from; guard against assault or injury (usually fol. by from or against)

So I take it you feel safer when you are unable to resist attack, protect yourself, ward off attack or guard against assault or injury. Conversely, you would feel unsafe if you were able to resist attack, protect yourself, ward off attack or guard from assault or injury.

[Blake]

Actually the article is pretty reasonable.

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 £5,000 fine.

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

It does not sound that unreasonable. The only thing is some people would like to have cheap swords as collectors items because they think swords look cool but can't afford a genuine sword.

Oh yeah and apparently the author of this article is "exepmt" from using a spellchecker.

[Lul Thyme]

Originally posted by Victor Galis
I would really draw the line after the gun ban. Guns are infinitely more dangerous. Samurai swords in the hands of the untrained are probably no more dangerous than some sort of large blunt object.

I agree.
I'm a lot more scared by what one person can do with a gun then a sword.
On the other hand, it sorta makes sense to group together all object whose sole purpose is to kill other people.
There could be exceptions and what not, but that's a good starting criterion. (Also why Slow's argument is ridiculous.)

[Kuciwalker]

A sword's purpose is almost never to kill people.

[Dauphin]

Never bring a sword to a gunfight.

[Spiffor]

Here in France, there are several grades of weapons, which are differently authorized (no English version).

Swords, like any other edge or blunt weapon, can't be carried without motive (sports in particular). There is no need to register to buy them however.

[BeBMan]

What about battle axes? And longbows?

[Kidlicious]

Yeah, it's kind of hard to get hit by a sword, as a bystander, in a drive by .... slashing too.

[Elok]

Originally posted by Straybow
Who would commit a robbery if they knew people had swords?

Thugs with crossbows. Or mace-and-chain. Or a blackjack, the element of surprise, and a liking for stolen swords.

[Victor Galis]

Originally posted by Deity Dude
Please don't change my quote and call it my quote. Someone casually reading the thread might think I have that ridiculous opinion.

I said I didn't "understand why some people felt the LESS they were able to defend themselves the safer they felt."

Obviously you feel the opposite. I guess you feel if you are a totally unable to defend yourself you are totally safe and if you are totally able to defend yourself that you are unsafe.

I look at the definitions of words you seem to look at them and think they mean the opposite. Lets look at the word at hand:

defense:

noun 1. resistance against attack; protection

or defend

verb 1. to ward off attack from; guard against assault or injury (usually fol. by from or against)

So I take it you feel safer when you are unable to resist attack, protect yourself, ward off attack or guard against assault or injury. Conversely, you would feel unsafe if you were able to resist attack, protect yourself, ward off attack or guard from assault or injury.

Using your logic, we should give all countries nuclear weapons because then we'd have no more war.

I agree.
I'm a lot more scared by what one person can do with a gun then a sword.
On the other hand, it sorta makes sense to group together all object whose sole purpose is to kill other people.
There could be exceptions and what not, but that's a good starting criterion. (Also why Slow's argument is ridiculous.)

My logic is that I can outrun the man with the sword... maybe. Kinda hard to outrun a bullet.

Yeah, it's kind of hard to get hit by a sword, as a bystander, in a drive by .... slashing too.

Yeah, it needs to be a ride-by.

[Straybow]

Originally posted by Victor Galis
Using your logic, we should give all countries nuclear weapons because then we'd have no more war.

Straw man. We aren't talking about giving swords, much less guns or nukes, to anyone.

Do you have a point, or are you just trolling?

By the same logic of this measure, we should also find out how many people are battered to death with bats, tire-irons, fireplace pokers, shovels, picks, and assorted other tools and ban them if there are too many deaths.

Wait a minute, the article mentioned a victim who was first hacked with the sword and then run over with an automobile. So we should ban automobiles, too. I guarantee there are far more deliberate auto-pedestrian deaths than sword deaths.

[Straybow]

Originally posted by Elok
Thugs with crossbows. Or mace-and-chain. Or a blackjack, the element of surprise, and a liking for stolen swords.

Bah. Thugs wouldn't know how to use a mace-and-chain.