UK Looks to Ban Samurai Swords

[Mulboyne]

Daily Mirror: The Last Samurai - Japanese Swords to be Banned
SAMURAI swords are to be banned after becoming the weapon of choice for gangsters...Police in Plymouth, are reporting one incident involving a Samurai sword every week. In Middlesbrough they are the "most attractive weapon" for thugs ahead of guns and knives. And London's notorious "Tottenham Boys" gang used the swords as a trademark in robberies on snooker halls, cafes and massage parlours...A senior Home Office source said: "Samurai swords have the effect of terrifying the victim in a robbery. But they carry significantly less risk in terms of punishment than a gun."

[puargs]

It's interesting because many handheld weapons are much more accurate and deadly than a gun... They are far easier to purchase, conceal, and commit a deadly crime with stealth if you are skilled in their use. Talk to a U.S. Marine and they'll tell you 20+ things you'd rather not know about how fast they can kill you with a pen knife. Weapon control laws in most countries are certainly fucked. Good thing I'm not in charge though, I would probably screw things up more.

Though a giant sword is not exactly easy to conceal. It's also a rare street punk who would be skilled in the least with one (who the hell practices with swords today anyway).

From a great "Knives for Guns" Chris Rock sketch: Remember: any punk can shoot a man in the back, but it takes a MAN to stab him in the front.

[Molokidan]

It's also a rare street punk who would be skilled in the least with one (who the hell practices with swords today anyway).

Sadly, a LOT of people still practice with swords today. But that doesn't mean even 75% of them are any good at it.

Now, I don't claim to know much about crime and the cutting down thereof, but I would feel at ease knowing that katanas were the weapon of choice among criminals rather than, say, oh, you know...GUNS. I mean, sure, they're both dangerous, but the former one seems to leave a lot more hope for survival than the latter. What's the big deal? If you take one away, they might be moving to pilums next!

[Charles]

It's also a rare street punk who would be skilled in the least with one (who the hell practices with swords today anyway).

Honestly now, how skilled to you have to be to slice up an unarmed man?

[puargs]

Now, I don't claim to know much about crime and the cutting down thereof, but I would feel at ease knowing that katanas were the weapon of choice among criminals rather than, say, oh, you know...GUNS.

Hahaha you're totally right. I'm actually a fairly vocal anti-gun advocate. I'm also saying that the threat of a knife should never be underestimated. People got along killing each other fine for thousands of years with knives, and they'll continue to do so. Yeesh, it would really suck to get stabbed by someone who knew what they were doing. Puncture a lung or something.

[Mulboyne]

Holdthefrontpage: Echo calls for ban on samurai swords after death of local man
The Express & Echo in Exeter is calling for samurai swords to be banned, after a local man was stabbed to death in the street. The newspaper wants the government to stop the sale of the swords, with an exemption for licensed groups. It is not currently illegal to buy a sword, only to carry it in public. And a day after Sidmouth man Bradley Moran admitted killing 33-year-old Matthew Stiling by stabbing him through the heart with the 18-inch blade of a samurai sword, an Echo reporter discovered how easy it is to buy one unchecked from an Exeter shop. Journalist David Edbrooke paid 120 pounds for a sword with a 2.5ft sharpened blade, and said it was "as easy as buying a lotto ticket".

[Charles]

...It is not currently illegal to buy a sword, only to carry it in public...

How are you supposed to carry it home from the shop where you bought it?

[Greji]

How are you supposed to carry it home from the shop where you bought it?

Just stick it in the bloke next to you and carry him home!

[keirnna]

Everyone comming to Okinawa is told that it is illegal to purchase or own a sword. I almost bought one with 93,000 folds in Taiwan. It was only $3,000 US because they were made by a sword maker trying to get his name out there. They had some amazing videos.

[Taro Toporific]

SAMURAI gang 'murdered pub man'
BBC News - Jan 20
A "family man" was murdered with a samurai sword in a pub after he stood
up to a gang who attacked his cousin, Cardiff Crown Court has heard. ...more...

[Behan]

Just thought I would add my otaku two cents...

I think that, basically, it's illegal to own swords in Japan but people can own katana that were made here because they are considered artworks.

Boards of education certify the swords as pieces of art (maybe craft?) and I also think you have to register it with the police. I don't think it's really a license, but just that the police want to know what swords are around, and probably who owns them.

A lot of people in Japan have katana. But you can't have a machine made one. It has to be made by a swordsmith.
There was an interesting editorial about katana by a Japanese man in the Japan Times a few years ago, one of the rare ones critical of Japanese cultural myths. He said that although katana have their good points, they also have their drawbacks. They are very sharp but dull very easily. They can also bend break easily, and sometimes even break.
Someone told me that how katana are used in chanbara movies is urnrealistic because the swords would be dull, bent, chipped, etc. after a few cuts.
Of course, if you are the victim of one, you only need to be cut once to die.

[Taro Toporific]

....although katana have their good points, they also have their drawbacks. They are very sharp but dull very easily. They can also bend break easily, and sometimes even break....

Cue the classic of the American shopping channel....
The YouTube video of THE KNIFE SHOW segment when Tom Odell breaks a "dai-katana" and stabs himself , hee, hee.

[drpepper]

Anyone can own a katana.. I have one. The license for it comes with it basically. There are a limit as to how many are allowed to be made per year and each one is registered with the license when it is made/sold. You can also buy gun-to or iai-to swords which are not forged but molded but can still be sharped and well sticking a 3 foot stick into someone even if it is not terribly sharp will kill them. I suppose I may have to sell mine as I plan to return to the States next year, it is much harder to get persmission to take them with you.

[sillygirl]

Sent mine back via the Post Office.

There was an attack in my home town:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/nottinghamshire/3529577.stm

Another! http://archive.thenorthernecho.co.uk/2005/3/30/18288.html

Nought to do with me or Brucie, I promise.....but best watch out if you decide to visit Nottingham.

[ichigo partygirl]

Sent mine back via the Post Office.

There was an attack in my home town:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/nottinghamshire/3529577.stm

Another! http://archive.thenorthernecho.co.uk/2005/3/30/18288.html

Nought to do with me or Brucie, I promise.....but best watch out if you decide to visit Nottingham.

I dont think we want to know what you use those swords for, you kinky thing you :P

[Behan]

I guess I am kind of getting off topic, but...

I took back a cheap decoration katana, short sword set with a cheap plastic imitation deer-antler stand. (Man, that's a bad sentence!)

I was nervous that US customs would nail me on that (think: Arlo Guthrie's classic song, 'Please Mr. Customs Man, don't check my bags...' - but for a different kind of thing!)

The customs officer didn't care at all about the sword. He pulled the plastic stand out to check that it wasn't real antlers.

[Behan]

Cue the classic of the American shopping channel....
The YouTube video of THE KNIFE SHOW segment when Tom Odell breaks a "dai-katana" and stabs himself , hee, hee.

That was really funny. I apologize if I seem like a sick FG.

[Greji]

.....but best watch out if you decide to visit Nottingham.

Buuu?

[sillygirl]

[Mulboyne]

[geronimo]

In the early days of FG, Steve Bildermann looked at sword and gun licenses in Japan in

anyone heard from Steve lately or did the meds stop working?

[Taro Toporific]

anyone heard from Steve lately or did the meds stop working?

We all wish he was a free blade in Nottingham, the forest that is, but his own personal demons have him in a treatment gaol for the long term and he has not been free to post anything here since June 2005.

[Behan]

Apologies for getting off topic, but..

sillygirl,

If I may be forward, I must say I love your numa numa.

[Greji]

Apologies for getting off topic, but..

sillygirl,

If I may be forward, I must say I love your numa numa.

That's because of her gay dragon, Brucie the spiff!

[Behan]

If you click it, the guy dancing to the song is funny. OK, not so funny, but it was a surprise.

[sillygirl]

Behan - can't go wrong with a bit of numa numa!!

Gboothe - BRUCIE IS NOT GAY!!!! Aaaaargh!!!

[Greji]

Gboothe - BRUCIE IS NOT GAY!!!! Aaaaargh!!!

Can't understand where I could have got that impression! Maybe it's the way he swishes his tail around. Bit of a come on that!

[Taro Toporific]

[color="SandyBrown"][SIZE="3"]There can be only o-o-one![/SIZE][/color]

Samurai sword terror as five stabbed
Evening Times, 16 Jan 2007
FOUR teenagers were among at least five people stabbed in a street battle linked to gangland wars in north Glasgow.
Samurai swords and knives were used by youths as young as 15 as the Milton area erupted into violence.
Local residents have today claimed that rival gangs who have "allegiances" to families with links to the heroin trade....more...

[Mulboyne]

[Mr Doricar]

(who the hell practices with swords today anyway).

Me

I want to be Tom Cruise heeeyyaaaa!

No, but really I do practice, but only with a bokken (wooden training sword). The thing is lethal anyway though.