Dear Mr McNulty,
I would like to know how the statistics presented justify a ban of such
items?
There would seem to be no statistically significant increase in the use of
edged weapons over the time periods highlighted in the pdf document.
Additionally, there is no breakdown of how many crimes were committed using
samurai swords, either genuine, replicas or any other variety. It's clear
that the proposal for the ban is based on anecdotal argument rather than
real facts, which I find deeply concerning. It would seem to be driven by
political tokenism.
We seem to be in a "ban it" mindset of late, evangelising the banning of
this and that as if it will be the solution to all our ills. It concerns me
deeply as it totally fails to address the real issues underpinning the
problems in our society. By focussing the attention onto the samurai sword,
you are drawing away from the criminal. But not only does the proposed ban
miss the point, it devalues our democracy, as every ban must do by
definition.
It is the person who commits the crime, the human being behind the gun or
knife that we need to address. That wont happen by banning every conceivable
item that could give him a mechanical advantage, because you will still be
left with a violent human being. We need to understand why our society seems
to be making more violent human beings and find a way of reversing this
trend. We need to treat the disease, not the symptom.
The issue is not that children are carrying knives. As a child in the 60's,
every self respecting boy I knew carried a pocket knife, along with a piece
of string and a conker or two. What has changed, is not the carriage of
knives, but the willingness to use them as weapons. It is the latter that we
must address, not the former.
Even the cheap, tacky replicas should not be banned, because in doing so,
the government is passing a restriction onto me. I have no love of cheap,
Chinese samurai swords, but I do have a love of freedom of choice and
democracy. I have the choice to buy one or not and I value that choice. Do
not take it away from me without gravity and absolute justification,
supported by hard facts not anecdotes. It is the banning of "something"
without proper justification that is most objectionable, it doesn't matter
what. It may be cheap, ugly, useless and unnecessary - some would argue, so
is art. If you remove my right to buy or own one, then you remove something
much more important ...my right to choose.
What statistics do you have to show there is a real problem with these
swords? The evidence in the pdf file doesn't make any attempt to distinguish
between one type of pointed object to the next. I hope that you would not
consider removing a right from the people of this country based on nothing
more than tabloid pressure?
I am a Registered Nurse who works in a trauma unit that covers a large city,
every major trauma within the whole catchment (about a million people) comes
through our department. In the 8 years I have worked there, I have never
heard of a single instance of a samurai sword being used as a weapon. Not
one. I would challenge the minister to provide some statistical evidence to
support the claim that these swords are a real problem? In my experience,
garden tools and kitchen knives are logarithmically more significant, though
perhaps not nearly as emotive. In either case, it is the criminal that
commits the crime, not the tool he uses. Would you attempt to tackle
dangerous driving by banning cars?
By making a demon out of the tool he has used, you are giving the criminal a
tacit absolution - you are telling society that the crime was committed
because of the availability of these swords, not because the criminal had
the intent to do harm. The tool he chooses is, in reality, incidental.
Society is not served in any way at all by such an albeit well intentioned,
misdirection of effort. I implore you to exercise some common sense. This
country has seen ban after ban, seemingly politically motivated with little
real effect other than to erode our freedom, dilute our democracy and sell a
few column inches. Gun crime is now at it's highest ever, 10 years after
handguns were banned. Criminals, by definition, ignore the law. They are
unlikely to respect a ban of anything. The only thing such a ban will
achieve, is a misdirection of public emotion against the sword, a
significant loss of business to thousands of traders, restrictions on law
abiding collectors and a loss of freedom to us all. But above all it sends
out a message that the problems in our society lie with the availability of
these swords and that is fundamentally wrong.
As a nurse I know only too well that if you put a bandage on a weeping sore,
it will look clean on the outside, but the sore continues to weep. It's the
human element we need to tackle, the criminal themselves. Until we have the
courage to address that complex and demanding issue, the wound will continue
to fester.
Yours Sincerely etc...
.
