Tilted Forum Project Discussion Community - View Single Post - Welcome to Canada, is that butterknife registered?

KnifeMissile · 10-21-2003, 08:45 PM

It's all about balance. On one hand, you have tools that serve a purpose and you want people to be able to use these tools. On the other hand, you have tools that can kill people and you don't want people killed. Our freedom to act is important but so is our freedom to live! How do we balance these things?

We harshly legislate guns 'cause, let's face it, they're made to kill. Sure, you don't have to shoot people with it. Hell, you don't even have to kill with it. You can shoot clay discs just for fun! For this reason, we allow people to own firearms. But, at some fundamental level, it's a tool for killing. Murder is made so easy with these things and, so, we regulate their use so carefully. They are so deadly, you can even kill someone accidentally. When was the last time someone was accidentally killed with a knife?

Speaking of knives, they are so useful that they are ubiquitous. You can't go anywhere without finding one and you can find several of them in every household! Sadly, you can use them to kill people and they don't do a bad job of it, too. However, you can kill with just about anything and you can't legislate it all? Serial killers can kill with a knife but how many mass murders were executed with one?

The fact of the matter is that guns aren't terribly essential to everyday life and can too easily be used to kill a great number of people, while knives are all too useful and aren't nearly as good at killing. Thus, one is highly regulated and the other is not.
Really, lets put things into perspective. Yes, there have been more knife killings than firearm killings (according to the original poster) but considering just how ubiquitous knives are it's amazing how rarely they are used to kill. Guns, by contrast, are quite rare (I haven't seen one in person since 1986, not counting the sidearm holstered by police officers) and, yet, have caused so many deaths?

As an aside, exactly how many more gun deaths were there after bill c-68? The recent number has been so low that I can't imagine that it was all that much. Also, a causal relationship has not been established. All we have is a correlation which could simply be a coincidence. Maybe the population increased? Maybe crime went up those years? Was that caused by bill c-68? I think people jump to conclusions all too easily. An occupational hazard in my profession (a cookie to anyone who can guess what that is!)...

10-21-2003, 08:45 PM	#12 (permalink)
KnifeMissile Location: Waterloo, Ontario	It's all about balance. On one hand, you have tools that serve a purpose and you want people to be able to use these tools. On the other hand, you have tools that can kill people and you don't want people killed. Our freedom to act is important but so is our freedom to live! How do we balance these things? We harshly legislate guns 'cause, let's face it, they're made to kill. Sure, you don't have to shoot people with it. Hell, you don't even have to kill with it. You can shoot clay discs just for fun! For this reason, we allow people to own firearms. But, at some fundamental level, it's a tool for killing. Murder is made so easy with these things and, so, we regulate their use so carefully. They are so deadly, you can even kill someone accidentally. When was the last time someone was accidentally killed with a knife? Speaking of knives, they are so useful that they are ubiquitous. You can't go anywhere without finding one and you can find several of them in every household! Sadly, you can use them to kill people and they don't do a bad job of it, too. However, you can kill with just about anything and you can't legislate it all? Serial killers can kill with a knife but how many mass murders were executed with one? The fact of the matter is that guns aren't terribly essential to everyday life and can too easily be used to kill a great number of people, while knives are all too useful and aren't nearly as good at killing. Thus, one is highly regulated and the other is not. Really, lets put things into perspective. Yes, there have been more knife killings than firearm killings (according to the original poster) but considering just how ubiquitous knives are it's amazing how rarely they are used to kill. Guns, by contrast, are quite rare (I haven't seen one in person since 1986, not counting the sidearm holstered by police officers) and, yet, have caused so many deaths? As an aside, exactly how many more gun deaths were there after bill c-68? The recent number has been so low that I can't imagine that it was all that much. Also, a causal relationship has not been established. All we have is a correlation which could simply be a coincidence. Maybe the population increased? Maybe crime went up those years? Was that caused by bill c-68? I think people jump to conclusions all too easily. An occupational hazard in my profession (a cookie to anyone who can guess what that is!)... Last edited by KnifeMissile; 10-21-2003 at 08:48 PM..