FBI stats show 5 times more murders by knives than rifles in 2018

[theotherwaldo]

Here is the list of knives Texas allows adult residents to own and carry (in most places) as of September 1st:

• Pocket Knives
• Butterfly Knives
• Ballistic Knives
• Stilettos
• Daggers
• Misleading Knives
• Machetes
• Bowie Knives
• Switch Blades

Those under 18 are still in a gray area and may find themselves in trouble for open or concealed carry of almost any knife. Texas law also includes “location specific” knife carrying restrictions. Residents and visitors cannot carry knives on school property, which includes Texas colleges and universities. You cannot bring a concealed knife into a polling place or any judicial venue such as a courtroom. Knives are prohibited at airports and bus terminals. Businesses that generate more than 51% of sales from liquor must place a sign at the front entrance informing customers not to bring knives into the establishment. Knives are banned at sporting events in Texas and in places of worship.

 

[Texas10mm]

Here is the list of knives Texas allows adult residents to own and carry (in most places) as of September 1st:

• Pocket Knives
• Butterfly Knives
• Ballistic Knives
• Stilettos
• Daggers
• Misleading Knives
• Machetes
• Bowie Knives
• Switch Blades

Those under 18 are still in a gray area and may find themselves in trouble for open or concealed carry of almost any knife. Texas law also includes “location specific” knife carrying restrictions. Residents and visitors cannot carry knives on school property, which includes Texas colleges and universities. You cannot bring a concealed knife into a polling place or any judicial venue such as a courtroom. Knives are prohibited at airports and bus terminals. Businesses that generate more than 51% of sales from liquor must place a sign at the front entrance informing customers not to bring knives into the establishment. Knives are banned at sporting events in Texas and in places of worship.

Many of those were legal prior to 9/1.

 

[theotherwaldo]

Yep. Texas legislators made several significant changes to state knife laws during the 2017 session. Lawmakers removed legal language that restricted specific knife designs. Formerly regulated knives like Bowie knives had all restrictions removed. Texas law also changed by increasing the blade maximum size allowed for “location specific” knives. Before the sweeping changes made in 2017 to Texas knife laws, legislators addressed the lack of statewide preemption in 2015. In September of 2015, the Texas legislature passed a law that required counties and municipalities to comply with state knife laws. The result has been the removal of statutes that place additional restrictions on knife ownership at the local level than what the state has on the books.
By the way, the police are rather skeptical about the open carry of swords... .

 

[Steve S.]

The US is simply put, a violent, killing society; some of the cultures within are more violent than others. Every square inch of this land was taken at the point of a sword or the muzzle of a gun - that process is true (by degree) to this very day. Violence is normal in the US, what weapon is used for that violence is the academic portion of the argument. We live in a place of frustrated, angry people which tends toward violent behavior with the most available and common objects around us.

 

[Thibaut]

I suspect that more people suffer violent deaths by knife than by rifle because of the obvious. Nontheless, I do seem to recall multiple killings by knife in Asia and a time or two in the UK. London, if memory serves. Isolated, though. What that tells me is that people will find a weapon if they want one. No doubt these up to date stats will be and should be used as argument if their base numbers are viable. I have not read the report itself.

 

[theotherwaldo]

All lands have always been taken and held by force of arms.
This is just as true today as it ever was.
You only own what you can defend.
Suspect greed and malice from anyone that wants to disarm you.

 

[bearcreek]

Every square inch of this land was taken at the point of a sword or the muzzle of a gun - that process is true (by degree) to this very day.

Replace the "sword" and "gun" with just "arms in general" and almost the entire world, with the exception of Antarctica and possibly a tiny number of isolated, resource poor areas fits that description. It's certainly not exclusive to or even more true of this country, that's for sure.

 

[bearcreek]

There was another, similar thread in Activism about mass shootings. Several of us had posts deleted because they were considered "off topic" for the Activism section. Maybe with this being in General we'll be able to discuss more. I asked in that thread if it would matter to anyone there if any sort of legislation actually did reduce the number and/or severity of mass shootings. I'll rephrase the question here a bit. If some sort of ban or further restriction were to pass and it actually worked and reduced the overall number of murders committed by civilians in this country, would that change your mind at all? In other words, does it matter to you whether or not rifles or handguns are used more or less than knives, fists, pillows, etc. etc. in civilian on civilian crime?

 

[Sistema1927]

People have been killing each other ever since Cain picked up a rock.

Rifles have typically not been the weapon of choice for murderers, 2017 was an anomaly due to the Las Vegas massacre. Even if one was able wave a magic wand full of pixie dust, and both ban and confiscate every rifle, shotgun, and pistol on the planet, people would still be killing each other. Probably at the same rate as they do now, if not worse.

 

[theotherwaldo]

Once the guns are gone, the big man with the big stick is king.

 

[rtroha]

Every square inch of this land was taken at the point of a sword or the muzzle of a gun

I guess my history teacher lied to me about the Louisiana Purchase and the purchase of Alaska from Russia.

 

[ATLDave]

I guess my history teacher lied to me about the Louisiana Purchase and the purchase of Alaska from Russia.

Uh, the people actually living in those land masses weren’t French or Russian for the most part. There’s a whole other category of ACTUAL residents who weren’t consulted.

If you “buy” my house by giving money to some stranger who simply “claims” it, and then kill me and put my family in the back yard, that’s not exactly a voluntary and peaceful exchange of ownership.

Your history teacher probably didn’t lie to you, but he/she may have omitted the majority of the story. Which is common. It’s kind of an ugly story, so we often don’t like to talk about it.

 

[hso]

https://americanmilitarynews.com/20...s-more-murders-by-knives-than-rifles-in-2018/

Even blunt objects and hands and feet outpaced murders by rifle.

This has always been the case, but we don't do a good job of communicating and Antis do.

Another truth is that suicides are the majority of firearms related deaths instead of murders yet recent polls found the majority of people think murder or mass shootings were the more frequent (when every legitimate analasys shows mass shootings are barely trackable statistically).

 

[Steve S.]

The indigenous people that occupied the purchased parcels were addressed with force - the point of a sword or the muzzle of a gun. I think that a very good argument could be made that these purchases were transacted without legal title (the only title being force). I don’t think that my history teachers lied to me at all however, I did listen to them.
In turn, I think that a quick review of the US murder rate (inclusive the use of firearms), outpaces our nearest rival by a very large number or at least I believe this is true on my planet.
Back from the condescension, blaming the victim has always seemed counterintuitive to me; I cannot grasp that if I leave any item in my vehicle and the item (firearm included) is stolen, that somehow by crossing some strange boundary, that makes me “irresponsible” - if someone steals an item (firearm included) from my home, I can be labeled and punished as irresponsible? - I just cannot make myself drink that Koolaide.

 

[bearcreek]

Back from the condescension, blaming the victim has always seemed counterintuitive to me; I cannot grasp that if I leave any item in my vehicle and the item (firearm included) is stolen, that somehow by crossing some strange boundary, that makes me “irresponsible” - if someone steals an item (firearm included) from my home, I can be labeled and punished as irresponsible? - I just cannot make myself drink that Koolaide.

No Koolaide involved. If you go camping in Smoky Mountain National Park and you leave food in your tent and a bear rips it down to get to that food, that was irresponsible of you. No reasonable person is blaming a victim who took reasonable precautions. If the victim did something stupid, like leave a gun visible in his vehicle or left the vehicle unlocked, or left his food in his tent in bear country, well, people are gonna call it what it is.

 

[Zaydok Allen]

Every square inch of this land was taken at the point of a sword or the muzzle of a gun

Yeah but if you call it manifest destiny then it's ok.

Another truth is that suicides are the majority of firearms related deaths instead of murders yet recent polls found the majority of people think murder or mass shootings were the more frequent (when every legitimate analasys shows mass shootings are barely trackable statistically).

That is something that has been of interest to me for some time. It seems absolutely silly to me that suicide is considered a crime of violence or gets labeled as "gun violence" or a "gun related death". Violence to me is an act of physical (or with some sensitive types, verbal) aggression towards another individual, not against oneself. Lumping gun suicides into the stats in this country can only be seen by me as a blatant attempt to skew the data and imply we have a bigger problem than we do.

How many people kill themselves by sucking down exhaust fumes? And yet those deaths are not considered automobile related fatalities, right? Are hangings considered a climbing accident? Obviously not.

 

[Steve S.]

I think I get the bear analogy or maybe I don’t - I will reflect.

 

[bearcreek]

I think I get the bear analogy or maybe I don’t - I will reflect.

In nutshell, if someone leaves a gun in an unlocked vehicle or leaves it visible in a vehicle and it gets stolen, people aren't necessarily blaming the victim for the crime, they're blaming the victim for being an irresponsible idiot.

 

[Steve S.]

In a nutshell, trusting people are not Idiots - the thieves are idiots. I am an old man that remembers when stuff was left in unlocked cars and houses never needed locking. I realize that our society has gone way south and thievery has been rationalized but people have the potential to be honest - there was a time.....

 

[bearcreek]

In a nutshell, trusting people are not Idiots - the thieves are idiots. I am an old man that remembers when stuff was left in unlocked cars and houses never needed locking.

Perhaps we need to define our terms better. Websters defines "idiot" as "a stupid or foolish person". It's pretty tough to argue that leaving your gun unsecured where it can easily be stolen is a foolish thing to do, which makes the person doing that foolish thing, foolish, or, to use a synonym, an idiot. Trusting a thief is foolish, that's why prisons have bars and locks.

I realize that our society has gone way south and thievery has been rationalized but people have the potential to be honest - there was a time.....

No one is rationalizing thievery. I'm rationalizing securing your weapons so they don't get stolen. Seems like common sense.

 

[Insignificant bill]

In a nutshell, trusting people are not Idiots - the thieves are idiots. I am an old man that remembers when stuff was left in unlocked cars and houses never needed locking. I realize that our society has gone way south and thievery has been rationalized but people have the potential to be honest - there was a time.....

The problem is a gun isn't like an ordinary possession. And leaving it it an unlocked vehicle is not being responsible in today's society.

 

[Sistema1927]

The problem is a gun isn't like an ordinary possession. And leaving it it an unlocked vehicle is not being responsible in today's society.

Which is a sad commentary on today's society.

I am also old enough to remember when many cars and trucks in the High School parking lot had guns in them, many on display in rear window gun racks, including mine. I didn't bother locking my truck up since that made it easier for the buddy who rode with me to retrieve anything he left in it without having to bother me.

 

[theotherwaldo]

It used to be that parents and preachers taught what was right and what was wrong.
Now it's politicians and lawyers.

 

[Insignificant bill]

What about those hammers?

 

[Pudge]

There was another, similar thread in Activism about mass shootings. Several of us had posts deleted because they were considered "off topic" for the Activism section. Maybe with this being in General we'll be able to discuss more. I asked in that thread if it would matter to anyone there if any sort of legislation actually did reduce the number and/or severity of mass shootings. I'll rephrase the question here a bit. If some sort of ban or further restriction were to pass and it actually worked and reduced the overall number of murders committed by civilians in this country, would that change your mind at all? In other words, does it matter to you whether or not rifles or handguns are used more or less than knives, fists, pillows, etc. etc. in civilian on civilian crime?

I support legislation which would reduce violent crime.