First guns, now knives - Wall Street Journal

[Malone LaVeigh]

It sounds to me like they can't point to any kind of a significant rise in crime with these things. Then I've never ceased to be amazed by the stupidity of the average American, so maybe thay can convince everyone that there's a problem.

As far as the knives themselves, I think the funky knobs and holes make them harder and more painful to open with one hand than my old Buck with the wooden handle. I also don't think I'd want to be depending on a blade with a big hole in it in a life-and-death situation.

 

[geekWithA.45]

It's called whipping up a moral panic folks, and they do it all the time.

Automatic knives were lost in the moral panic following "West Side Story".
"Assault Weapons" were lost in the moral panic following "Lethal Weapon II"
The examples go on and on.

Fundamentally, it's a failure to accept the fact that humans will arm themselves, and arm themselves well, working around, under or through whatever obstacles are placed into their path.

 

[Justin]

I am now stupider for having read that article.

 

[pcf]

I am now stupider for having read that article.

Me sometime think maybe Agree statement you make say.

And, I'm still more worried about criminals with screwdrivers than knives

Screwdrivers:
-have longer shafts than blades on knives and are still legal to carry.
-people pick up screwdrivers and know that they need to stab with them, most people pick up a knife and try to slash and cut.

That's it, I'm writing the WSJ on the dangers of long fixed shaft screwdrivers with ergonomic handles.

 

[jlbraun]

My letter.

Sir,

I must take issue with your article entitled "Wall Street Journal Looks at Pocketknives". I will not expound upon the total complement of exaggerations, insinuations, half-truths, and fear-mongering statements contained therein, as to do so might in your mind obscure the two points I am trying to make:

First, criminals by definition do not follow the law, and a law making defense knives illegal will only further embolden criminals that already carry whatever weapons they wish, while at the same time disarming the law-abiding citizenry. You bemoan the deadliness of mere two-inch knives with the following statement: "Yet, in a widely publicized case, ex-Marine Thomas Autry used a two-inch blade in May to kill one mugger and wound another when he was confronted by five assailants armed with a shotgun and a .38-caliber pistol." Is it not within Mr. Autry's rights to defend himself with deadly force when confronted with an armed gang whom by the presence of firearms implied that they would kill him if he did not give up his wallet? How could Mr. Autry be sure that the criminals, even after stripping him of his wallet, would not also strip him of his very life because he could identify them?

Second, the article states that "Dave Vanderhoff, who runs U.S. Martial Arts in Clifford, N.J., recently taught a knife-fighting class that included a judge, a banker, a nurse, a young woman with a belly ring and a French chef from Manhattan." I would surmise that the judge and banker (if not the nurse, chef and young woman as well) so noted in the article are probably subscribers of your excellent broadsheet, and are surprised to find that your Mr. Fritz considers them mere steps from being murderers, all from their desire to take a class to defend themselves with a knife - and perhaps from the mere possession of a knife. Inanimate objects do not a killer make. Such hyperbole and damning intimation has no place in a paper with a reputation such as yours, and serves only to alienate your subscribers.

Respectfully,

XXXXX
Engineering Consultant

 

[lucky_fool]

Clearly we are seeing wounds you would expect from a bigger blade from what victims say was a small knife," says Andrew Ulrich, a Boston Medical Center emergency-room doctor.

Must be those evil Black Talon pocketknives.

 

[sparx]

That's it, I'm writing the WSJ on the dangers of long fixed shaft screwdrivers with ergonomic handles.

And don't forget to mention those awfully nasty cordless ones... they can reek deadly havoc for minutes on end with just the simple push of a button! I can feel my innards being twisted round and round as we speak!

 

[flashman70]

Excellent letter, hso. I just got finished reading the article and then came to THR while eating lunch at my desk. Never forget that the news pages of WSJ are as liberal as the NYT's.

My wife just got me one of the Benchmade automatic openers for my birthday. Hopefully I'll never have to refer to it as a "pre-ban."

 

[benEzra]

So, maybe the WSJ can explain to me how a 2" tacticool looking folder with carbon-fiber grips is "more deadlier" than the 6-inch Miracle Blade steak knife you can get at Wal-Mart...

 

[Justin]

Because it's scary looking.

 

[Legionnaire]

Great letter, hso. Probably too long to print, but I'm glad you sent it ... and shared it here. Thanks!

 

[Matt_W]

Clearly we are seeing wounds you would expect from a bigger blade from what victims say was a small knife," says Andrew Ulrich, a Boston Medical Center emergency-room doctor.

Notice how they manage to give these folding knives a mysterious feel by getting a Doctor to tell us that the blade of a tactical folder is able to defy the laws of physics and thereby make them appear so much more dangerous than 'ordinary' knives.

I am sure there must be a medical term when they start to suggest that witchcraft has something to do with such things.

 

[Bullet Bob]

hso; I'd like to second the other kudo's. Well reasoned and written. It will be interesting to see if they print your reply.

 

[RobW]

Just heard this morning in the news that Police arrested 2 men and 1 woman who killed a Las Vegas man with a screwdriver and A PEN!

So, screwdrivers and pens have to be verboten! Too bad that there are computers and typewriters, otherwise this Wall Street Jounal novel-scribe couldn't write his nonsense. What a relief!

 

[648E]

Clearly we are seeing wounds you would expect from a bigger blade from what victims say was a small knife," says Andrew Ulrich, a Boston Medical Center emergency-room doctor.

Here he is:

Andrew Ulrich, M.D.
Residency Director
Residency: Emergency Medicine, Boston City Hospital
E-mail: [email protected]

 

[hso]

Let's not get side tracked on the individuals in the article. I know Earnie Emerson, Jimmy Ray, Dave Kowalski, and Chuck Buck and I'd bet my retirement that each of them are furious over how their words were distorted and twisted. I can't imagine what the others I don't know actually said vs what was presented.

The problem is the author and editor who have taken such a stance against these knives that they are willing to color and twist the facts to fit their opinion.

 

[tellner]

The mark of a true blissninny - focusing on inanimate objects as the source of all the worlds ills
Can't we put all these people on an island somewhere? I'm sick of listening to the constant fear-mongering from these idiots.

I hope everyone here will note that "blissninny" means "conservative" at least as often as it means "liberal". The WSJ is part of the Old Guard Putocratic Right as are every single one of its editorial staff.

 

[tellner]

Concerning switchblades...

It's cultural as much as anything else. I used to have a slew of documents from the original debate over them. What it came down to was that knives were associated with the Lower Orders. Honest tax-paying Christian Americans shoot each other. Dark skinned subhumans like Negroes, Mezcans, and rebellious teenagers use knives. It was a whole morass of class and race hysteria masquerading as crime prevention. Not unlike the current disconnect in the penalties for using powdered cocaine versus crystalline.

 

[hso]

There is no real potential to get the federal government to do away with the interstate commerce ban on switchblades any more than getting it to allow modern machine guns to be purchased under the NFA restrictions.

I do find it amazing that switchblades would be used as such an obvious straw man in the article though. Any high school rhetoric and reasoning student would see it for the sophomoric debate technique it is. Of course that's the level of the writing.

 

[LAK]

Clearly we are seeing wounds you would expect from a bigger blade from what victims say was a small knife," says Andrew Ulrich, a Boston Medical Center emergency-room doctor.

Knife blades that defy physics? Now I must get one of these. Perhaps Ulrich could direct me to a compact car that has the carrying and towing capacity of a very large SUV - I'd definately be in the market from one of those as well. I'm surprized he is not working for NASA - things that defy physics might be of great use to them as well.

-----------------------------------------------

http://ussliberty.org
http://ssunitedstates.org

 

[El Tejon]

LAK, thanks, I missed what that doc said. I must say it is in the top 5 of inane statements in that article (there were so many):

Anyone who has spent any time crawling along on the tile knows that in knifing cases, one always sees horrific wounds caused by small blades. What the doc forgets is that knives are human powered. A human arm is attached full of hate and drugs driving the knife into its target and ripping it back out in a usually sloppy manner (have yet to run into a knife case were the defendant is an experienced Arnis or Escrima student who would make clean cuts to aid bleeding and speed).

Remember the OJ case when the "prosecution" brought out that large stupid fantasy knife and attempted to claim it was the weapon weapon. Moronic and shows that the "prosecutors" assigned the case had zero experience in violent crimes.

The murder weapon was the Swiss Army Knife that He Whose Name Cannot Be Mentioned found at Juice's house. However, the prosecution decided to ignore it and a mountain of other evidence that HWNCBM found.

Moronic article--the ignorant leading the ignorant.:banghead:

 

[Erebus]

"Assault Weapons" were lost in the moral panic following "Lethal Weapon II"

You forgot the ultra wicked "Cop Killer" bullets that can punch through the blade of a bulldozer with ease. :banghead:

 

[AirForceShooter]

I'm orginally from NYC and my choice of a knife has always been a switchblade.
I finally escaped to Florida and now It's a 1911 with a switchblade backup.
Just can't get over carrying a switchblade.

AFS

 

[iapetus]

Cesiumsponge

Anyone remember the article from BBC several years ago which was a push from the medical practitioners to ban kitchen knives because they were pointlessly big for kitchenwork and menacing because they were designed to slice meat?

Better than that, here is the original article in the British Medical Journal:

Bear in mind that almost all the responses to the article are totaly dismissive of the suggestion.

http://bmj.bmjjournals.com/cgi/content/full/330/7502/1221?ehom




I once had someone pull a switchblade on me, before I could get my Swiss Army Knife open...

Fortunately the only reason either of us were getting our knives out was to test the hardness of a mineral sample on a university geology field trip. The person with the switchblade was a sweet little Italian girl who would never harm anyone. I presume she had brought the knife from Italy, as they are illegal in the UK.

 

[hso]

A couple of my favorite responses to the absurd recommendation to ban kitchen knives in the UK.

The Spork solution 27 May 2005

Saif S Rathore,
Student
Yale University School of Medicine
Send response to journal:
Re: The Spork solution


This editorial raises an important issue - how best to reduce the tools available for use in violent activities. Having virtually eliminated handgun-related crimes, it is reassuring to realize that those concerned with the public's health are now addressing another leading source, sharp knives. My only complaint is that this action has taken too long. We have strong evidence - well over 4000+ years of recorded human history - documenting the horror knives inflict on the world. Why have we waited until 2005 to consider addressing this issue?

I would further suggest that we pre-emptively act (a concept that's quite popular in government circles on both sides of the pond) to eliminate other putative tools of violence. Continuing the culinary theme, I suggest that forks be removed next. Forks present several sharp edges that may be used for harm. Much as no parent would encourage their child to play with knives, few would offer them a fork as a replacement. Anecdotal evidence from correctional facilities suggests that forks are often used as weapons. In lieu of forks, I suggest that we adopt the spork. The fast food spork - the hybrid spoon fork widely available in North America - provides much of the benefits of the fork with few of its risks. Based on this more advantageous side effect profile, the spork merits adoption, recognizing that data concerning its cost-effectiveness and utility in various sub-groups remains unassessed.

I encourage the BMA to adopt a pro-spork platoform fortwith.

Good thing he wrote instead of calling them since they wouldn't have understood him with his tongue so firmly tucked into his cheek

Michael R Neal,
Retired
Home,
pe304et
Send response to journal:
Re: Control Group.


I feel that the authors are too close to the coal face. It will feel to a busy M.O.that every man and his dog is being damaged by kitchen knives. If they were to step back and apply some scientific reasoning,they would discover that SEVERAL MILLION people manage to co-exist with kitchen knives without harming themselves or others. Surely the fault must lie with the sociopathic individuals rather than with inanimate objects. By the way,the picture seems to show a slash injury rather than a punture wound inflicted by a pointy knife.

I wonder if pointing out the obvious had any impact on their position?

Are you missing the point? 30 May 2005

Harvey J. Marrable,
Semi retired Child Psychiatrist
Gosford NSW 2250 Australia
Send response to journal:
Re: Are you missing the point?


Unhappy children grow up to be angry adults. Angry adults are liable to outbursts of rage and impulsive violence. Children raised by contented parents tend to be happy. To reduce the outbursts of domestic and road rage (unheard of a generation ago) look to ways of supporting families and helping them to care for their children. Forget weapons.

Competing interests: I am a Child Psychiatrist

Ahh, someone points out it's the person and not the object behind the violence