British police calling for knife ban

a reply to: woogleuk

Bet he was pleased with you.

a reply to: MagnaCarta2015

Ahh in that case then yes, carrying around everyday wouldn't be wise as if you did get stopped and searched they'd probably be more inclined to temporarily confiscate it than allow you to keep it on your person (American friends - high knife violence areas are one of the few places where carrying a knife is seen as suspicious) and having to go to the station to collect it would be more hassle than it's worth.

Best to stick with only carrying it when you intend to use it in those areas as they're where the law was aimed at. Live in one myself, when me and my friends used to enjoy 'jazz cigarettes' in years gone by we'd go somewhere a a bit more discrete and if the police saw us they were fine with it as long as we didn't go near kids, families, normal people as then they'd be forced to enforce the law.

Yanks - police in the UK are incredibly lenient, the last thing they want to do is bother people, arrest them or conviscate things - they will bend over backwards to make sure they don't have to arrest people - but if you're obviously flaunting the law in public, they will come down like a tonne of bricks - as they should in my opiion.

originally posted by: bastion
a reply to: MagnaCarta2015

Ahh in that case then yes, carrying around everyday wouldn't be wise as if you did get stopped and searched they'd probably be more inclined to temporarily confiscate it than allow you to keep it on your person (American friends - high knife violence areas are one of the few places where carrying a knife is seen as suspicious) and having to go to the station to collect it would be more hassle than it's worth.

Best to stick with only carrying it when you intend to use it in those areas as they're where the law was aimed at. Live in one myself, when me and my friends used to enjoy 'jazz cigarettes' in years gone by we'd go somewhere a a bit more discrete and if the police saw us they were fine with it as long as we didn't go near kids, families, normal people as then they'd be forced to enforce the law.

Yanks - police in the UK are incredibly lenient, the last thing they want to do is bother people, arrest them or conviscate things - they will bend over backwards to make sure they don't have to arrest people - but if you're obviously flaunting the law in public, they will come down like a tonne of bricks - as they should in my opiion.

Yep,incredibly lenient:
www.telegraph.co.uk...

That's one case from three years ago where a guy shot robbers and was released on bail and allowed to leave the country while the attempted robbers were sentenced to four years - the last similar case before that was around 30 years ago when a farmer shot two guys running away from his house.

While far from perfect, that's a pretty good record don't you think?

originally posted by: bastion
police in the UK are incredibly lenient, the last thing they want to do is bother people, arrest them or conviscate things - they will bend over backwards to make sure they don't have to arrest people - but if you're obviously flaunting the law in public, they will come down like a tonne of bricks - as they should in my opiion.

I'll second that passionately.
If you aren't being a prick then the overwhelming majority of police officers in the UK will be cool and turn a blind eye or have a chat and say don't be a prick next time.

I have never ever been scared of UK police, they are vastly outnumbered, only 1 for every 5000 citizens at any given time right now during the Summer where I am, only one in ten at most in my area carry tazers, just sticks, and they are mostly friendly and decent.

If you are not harming others or threatening to harm others then they leave you alone. I have to remind myself that some things are illegal the amount of times I see cops making good calls to keep a community at peace and happy.

a reply to: grainofsand

That's because in the UK the policing ethos is different to the US. The US are "law enforcers", the UK "police by consent". It is a very different culture. To police by consent, you need to be more highly trained in my opinion because you need to use judgement and interaction at a higher level.

a reply to: paraphi

That law 'enforcement' thing is alien to me on my part of the island. Cops here only care if somebody has made a complaint or they actually see something they think the majority of the community does not want happening.
Most of them just want an easy shift and get home to their family with everybody chilling out.

I see plenty of good calls by local police, and I think of them as referees, nobody likes the ref but you will never have a game without them.
US/UK police, apples n oranges.

originally posted by: Jonjonj

originally posted by: rossacus
You realise it's difficult to kill someone from 20 yrs away with a knife, scissors, chair legs, sticks forks, spoons, words and all the other proposed bans. Not so difficult with gun. That's the issue. People will always find weapons but some are more devastating than others. Let's not forget that.

The opportunity to kill, at any distance, is a god given right.

Al-Qaeda would approve of this quote.

originally posted by: grainofsand
a reply to: paraphi

That law 'enforcement' thing is alien to me on my part of the island. Cops here only care if somebody has made a complaint or they actually see something they think the majority of the community does not want happening.
Most of them just want an easy shift and get home to their family with everybody chilling out.

I see plenty of good calls by local police, and I think of them as referees, nobody likes the ref but you will never have a game without them.
US/UK police, apples n oranges.

The honest answer is money. Law enforcement in America needs to justify its high costs and many officers are expected to meet certain arrest quotas. Many departments literally need a steady revenue stream from arrests & fines in order to stay afloat.

It's the same with local governments. In order to maintain their budgets, they need the constant cash flow from fines, arrests & confiscated goods, court fees, etc. That's why the NYPD's officers went on a temporary strike/"slowdown" to protest the mayor. The NYPD is a major cash generator for the city & the loss of revenue was noticed immediately. Plus we have for-profit jails & prisons, independent contractors who receive contracts to work in non-profit jails & prisons, etc.

This is exactly why governments should not be run like a business. Citizens are reduced to simply being assets & products instead of being humans with rights. Then law enforcement focuses on enforcing the easiest convictions & most profitable "crimes". That's why law enforcement here is more likely to go after simple drug possession than to make an all-out assault on a cartel or organized crime group. It's also why they focus more on expensive fines to poor people than on ending domestic violence; there's no money to be made from enforcements against domestic violence.

Libtards will NEVER give up on trying to take guns away from law abiding Americans. They know it is these 3.5 guns per person that stand between them and their Socialist dream of a Central Government and the vacating of the Constitution.

originally posted by: Sunwolf
Yep,incredibly lenient:
www.telegraph.co.uk...

Sorry, what was your point? They emigrated because they feared reprisals by the burglars. The only thing the Police did was arrest the homeowner who shot a burglar so they could investigate it - no charges were ever brought.

a reply to: network dude

the thinly veiled point here was that in the UK, guns were voluntarily surrendered. (I get that you are allowed some form of gun ownership)

But that 'thinly veiled point' is nonsense.

The UK is not the USA.
You have your Second Amendment and it seems most Americans want to keep it.
I have no problem with that.
American laws for American people...as it should be.

But the vast majority, and I assure you 'vast majority' is not an exaggeration, of people here in the UK have no desire for any relaxation of our gun control laws.
British laws for British people...as it should be.

Guns are not as part of UK culture as they are in the USA.
Gun ownership is engrained in the American psyche.
It isn't here and there is absolutely no need to introduce it.

We have much in common with each other....but there is also much that separates us.
Gun control / ownership is one of those things where we are polar opposites - we need to recognise and accept that and stop moralising to each other.

This Article suggested that knives were next on the list.

But its not, its utter and complete bollocks.
A knife ban is not on the agenda and never will be.
How many British citizens must attest to this for it to sink in?

It sadly devolved into a bash the UK theme, which I highly doubt the OP had in mind.

I have absolutely no doubt that you personally have no intention of participating in any 'Brit bashing', but I can't say the same for many of the US members in this thread who seem obsessed with your Second Amendment, the UK and its people and our gun control laws.

Can't we all just get along? -Rodney King

Indeed.
If only my friend.

a reply to: AnonymousRider

.....They know it is these 3.5 guns per person that stand between them and their Socialist dream of a Central Government and the vacating of the Constitution.

If that is true, I don't think I'm qualified to comment either way on the accuracy of that statement, then that is a shocking indictment on the USA and its people.

I suspect that you may not see it that way.....but I assure you the majority of non-Americans will fully understand what I mean by that.

originally posted by: AnonymousRider
Libtards will NEVER give up on trying to take guns away from law abiding Americans. They know it is these 3.5 guns per person that stand between them and their Socialist dream of a Central Government and the vacating of the Constitution.

Well aren't you just as smart as you are sweet.



..............pathetic little commentary, reeks of ignorance.

originally posted by: Subaeruginosa
Well approximately 12.000 of your approximately 16,000 yearly homicides are committed with a firearm. What other conclusion could you make from that?

That 12,000 people WANTED to kill someone and they used a gun? Are you suggesting if we ban guns then those 12,000 would not have wanted to kill someone?

We are talking .005% of the population that seem to not treat guns right, and most of them were most likely illegally using them anyways...

Take away guns, take away knives, also take away cricket bats, sticks, stones, wire rope and cord (garrot), take away yard implements and building material like rebar..... and in a very short while these will be replaced with something maybe...... more sinister...

originally posted by: Xtrozero

originally posted by: Subaeruginosa
Well approximately 12.000 of your approximately 16,000 yearly homicides are committed with a firearm. What other conclusion could you make from that?

That 12,000 people WANTED to kill someone and they used a gun? Are you suggesting if we ban guns then those 12,000 would not have wanted to kill someone?

I'm suggesting that most of them would be to piss weak to commit murder, if it wasn't as easy as just squeezing a trigger.

We are talking .005% of the population that seem to not treat guns right, and most of them were most likely illegally using them anyways...

Yeah maybe........... But that .005% percent of the US population (remembering that your country is the third most populated country in the world) would have probably only gained access to a firearm, simply because the regulations on owning a firearm are far to lax over there.

I could probably write a 3 page thread on why the US is the best country to ever inhabit this earth. But imo, the lax gun laws & harsh drug laws, cause you guys to fall short of being a perfect example of how a society should be run.

originally posted by: Subaeruginosa

I could probably write a 3 page thread on why the US is the best country to ever inhabit this earth. But imo, the lax gun laws & harsh drug laws, cause you guys to fall short of being a perfect example of how a society should be run.

The issue is guns are a Right, not a privilege, in this country, so it is rather hard to limit a right as crazy as it may seem to you, also I live in Washington state where pot is now legal. One thing to remember is America is like 50 countries that can have different laws in each one. The thing we do not want is to have a big federal foot print to decide for everyone and let the States vote on the way they want to live, seems rather logical doesn't it?



Also you need to realize that if you take a cites like Chicago or Detroit they are farther away from me than Moscow is from you and I have about as much connection in the violence there as if a shooting happen in Moscow is to you. Very big place, very different in many areas, many place I would not live, so not a hell of a lot of affect on me until the feds decide that just because Chicago is dangerous then I should be treated the same way....not good..

originally posted by: Xtrozero

originally posted by: Subaeruginosa

I could probably write a 3 page thread on why the US is the best country to ever inhabit this earth. But imo, the lax gun laws & harsh drug laws, cause you guys to fall short of being a perfect example of how a society should be run.

also I live in Washington state where pot is now legal. One thing to remember is America is like 50 countries that can have different laws in each one. The thing we do not want is to have a big federal foot print to decide for everyone and let the States vote on the way they want to live, seems rather logical doesn't it?

So does that mean your allegiance is to the left? Because if Bush was still in power, he'd be allowing the DEA to be currently raiding people who are complying with state laws.

You only have Obama to thank for respecting state laws when it comes to drug regulations.

a reply to: Skid Mark

Ok. Seriously?

Pointy?

SERIOUSLY?

Right, ok, I'm done laughing now. Please tell me that 13 pages in(I just came across this) someone has posted Monty Python?

If not, then ATS is slacking. My second thought is........

POINTY!?!?!?!?!??!?!?!

Ok, there's something off about this story and I finally realized what it is. A total and complete lack of logic. We talking about pointy. Mr. Pointy, even. Oh my, this is just too much for me. I think I need to lie down and sleep.