No Stabby

The Arizona Rifleman discusses the ridiculousness of the idea of anti-stab knives, which have been introduced in the UK, and are being promoted by the Home Office.  The mind boggles at some of the comments:

This is intended to make homes safer places for everyone regardless of age, ability (disability) or useage. The common kitchen knife hasn’t evolved since its medieval beginnings and has no place in the 21st century home. By the way £50 each is a misprint. They will be much cheaper.

No place in the 20th century home?  What about screwdrivers, or sharp scissors?  Straight razor anyone?

16 thoughts on “No Stabby”

  1. stab-proof, because it doesn’t have a point? i’m skeptical; it’s still a thin piece of metal, pointy or no. perhaps if you’re wearing fairly thick, strong clothing, but i think some brute force could still punch it through skin easily enough — as noted, screwdrivers penetrate skin without much trouble, and they seem even point-lessier still.

    and no, i am not and will not volunteer to test that hypothesis. but if these things become common, somebody eventually WILL test it. i suspect it won’t look pretty.

  2. I’m hoping for a ban on rocks and sticks followed by “rock and stick buy backs”; we can all cash in big!

  3. Well, it does have a pointy part, but the rounded part sticks out farther. Envision the bow of a nodern warship, but upside-down: point of bow at roughly deck level, with bulbous extension sticking out farther. Looks silly, if not useless for things like seperating joimts.

    And I’ll bet those doctors who proclaimed that there was no need for points on knives would scream loudly if their scalpels had the points ground down…

  4. I’ve managed to accidentally cut myself with my own fingernails. Could I get sweet, sweet government “buyback” cash by turning in my nail clippings?

  5. If one is depressed and inclined to suicidal feelings then one can still slit one’s wrists instead of stabbing them. And I’m sure Jihadis won’t be nonplussed by the inability to videotape poking their victims in the neck – since they use another motion entirely.
    The old saying The winner of a knife fight goes to the hospital and the loser goes to the morgue has a lot to do with the slicing action available since dueling with sword and epee has gone out of style.

  6. The Brits sure know how to turn their soft, white, underbelly up don’t they!

    Good thing they kicked all the smart people out and made them move to the New World.

  7. only right wing terrorists need sharp knives. if you need to poke something, all you need to do is fill out an application and a helpful government poking specialist will be at your house within 4-6 weeks to perform the poking in a safe and legal manner.

  8. Exorbitant price aside, I can actually see how this could be of use. I’m not exactly the most dexterous person in the kitchen and have more than a few tiny scars on my hands from getting nicked while slicing peppers.

    Of course, this isn’t really anything that can’t be fixed with about five minutes and a Dremel, but if this guy can sell semi-blunt knives for $100+ then it’s tough to be too hard on him.

  9. “The common kitchen knife hasn’t evolved since its medieval beginnings and has no place in the 21st century home.”

    That’s more a comment on British cooking than anything else…

  10. Wait until they want to license cricket bats. THAT’s one that will be interesting to watch.

  11. “The common kitchen knife hasn’t evolved since its medieval beginnings and has no place in the 21st century home.”

    Somebody’s poor education is showing. First off, knives have been around since we discovered flint and techniques to sharpen it and other stones. Anybody believe the bronze age was on or about the medieval times?

    Secondly, if by “hasn’t evolved” you discount the development of steel, the improvement of steel mixtures, the refinement of tempering techniques, the development of non-metal or non-ferrous metal blades, and the development of better and non-slip handle material.

    And of course the sheepsfoot blade has been used for hundreds of years by sailors to avoid accidental stabbing penetrations when the ship rolls.

    In any case, I expect a marked increase in forkings and perhaps skewerings.

  12. Rocks have no place around the 20th century home and garden—from here out in the UK, they will be replaced by soft, rainbow-colored foam balls.

  13. Go read the comments on the Times Online, quite a rollicking debate going on over there.

    I saw this from an Aussie, which made my jaw drop

    “Amazing how the Americans think it’s a God given right to own weapons.”

    Uh, yeah buddy, we (i.e. Founding Fathers) got that notion from Englishmen like Blackstone…

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