Swords....

[hobbitomm]

Our delightful First Minister, Jack McConnell, has introduced a bill to ban, amongst other generally sensible ideas, the sale and carrying in public of swords in Scotland. A recent Scotsman
article on the subject can be found at the following page, ~ http://news.scotsman.com/index.cfm?id=1345182004

Which is all very well and good, but it's not likely to reduce the number of blade wounds significantly, which is the supposed point. Obviously this will have an effect on, amongst other things....

Tourism
Antiques Sales
Fencing
Historical Re-enactments
Highland Dancing
Religious/Masonic ritualists

If you are against this concept, you can mail the First Minister, or the Justice Minister at jack.mcconnell.msp@scottish.parliament.uk
cathy.jamieson.msp@scottish.parliament.uk
respectively, or you can join in the petition at

http://www.petitiononline.com/Swords/petition.html

Comments

[ggreig]

Hmm. I don't think I agree with the proposed changes, because of the effect it would have on the activities you mention. However, I do have sympathy with the politicians regarding the problem they're trying to solve. What would you say to a licensing scheme that allowed legitimate sword users to register their sword use and otherwise carry on as before?

I know there are all sorts of arguments about the benefits and failures of license schemes whenever they're introduced for something but it seems to me that if it's head-to-head with the government then the legitimate interest groups are easily presented as anoraks and weirdos who don't care about the safety of the public, whereas if you push for licensing then you're giving some ground and getting yourself a "passport" that will let you carry on?

I'd be interested to know what you think.

[hobbitomm.livejournal.com]

I don't see a licensing scheme as being unreasonable- I certainly wouldn't object to it.

[juanfandango.livejournal.com]

If they work on the same criteria as gun licences, I fear I would be refused one. :-(

[hobbitomm.livejournal.com]

Ah, it's whole mexican vampire thing, isn't it?

[juanfandango.livejournal.com]

What "problem" are they trying to solve? It seems that the number of injuries/deaths caused (by illegal actions) with swords is pretty damn small (although I stand to be corrected). Compare and contrast with the number of injuries/deaths caused (by illegal actions) by, oooh, say, car drivers.

The politicians are, again, picking on soft targets to garner approval and votes. The number of legitimate sword users is quite small as a proportion of the populace, and so opposition is likely to be a minor inconvenience. Invent a problem, blow it out of proportion with the assistance of the Daily Mail, and bring a solution crashing down to win votes! Hurrah! er, not.

[hobbitomm.livejournal.com]

Well, duelling is getting increasingly popular amongst the young nobility, with increasing numbers meeting behind the Benedictine nunneries to fight.....

Incidentally, I keep hearing travel reports on Radio 2 from Carlos Fandango. Any relation?

[juanfandango.livejournal.com]

He eees a cousin, I theenk.

[hobbitomm.livejournal.com]

You peerrrmeeeeeet theeeeeeees?

[juanfandango.livejournal.com]

Which reminds me: Oh, god, talk about a blast from the past. Last night I went to auditions for Carpe Jugulem, that my theatre group is putting on. And, of course, I had to audish for Igor.

"Yetthhhhhhhh, marrrtttthhhhhhhhtttter...."
("Niceth ankleth, mitthhhhtttreeethhhh...")

I don't know if I got the part yet, but I did spit all over the script.

[hobbitomm.livejournal.com]

That'll freak out Copperbird ;)

Did you offer to lick anyones ankles?

[juanfandango.livejournal.com]

No. :-)

[copperbird.livejournal.com]

Hahahaha!

Did they give you a little trolley? :)

[juanfandango.livejournal.com]

I went off my trolley years ago. :-)

[hobbitomm.livejournal.com]

And don't we just know it?

We should do another games meet some time!

[ggreig]

I think the politicians' approach is an over-reaction, but put yourself in the shoes of an average member of the public. To them, a car is a liberating, useful, if not indispensible, tool which also unfortunately happens to be dangerous if mishandled. That doesn't compare to something deliberately designed as a weapon for which they see no use in their every day lives and which they know criminals may be using as their weapon of choice. It doesn't matter if knife crime is relatively rare, and sword crime even rarer. It's horrific when it happens, it's personal - not an accident, as might happen to any car driver - and banning it would have very little impact on the life of the average citizen. Those things make a big difference in people's attitudes towards the justification for owning a sword as against owning a car, and have nothing to do with relative numbers.

Although I'm not personally involved in any of them, I support the legitimate use of swords for the activities hobbitomm mentions. However, I think you're starting on the back foot in terms of defending that position, for the reasons that both you and I have given.

It seems to me, then, that the way to get the politicians to listen, especially when they have already spoken out against sword ownership so vehemently in the first place, is not to be too defensive about it but to be willing, co-operative and (horrendous word) pro-active in finding constructive alternatives that could make it more difficult for the thugs to own and misuse blades while preserving your legitimate interests. Sure, licensing (or some other limitation scheme) won't stop a determined criminal getting hold of a blade - but then, neither will an outright ban, so maybe licensing (or some other scheme) will actually be good enough for the politicians and the public if actively proposed and supported.

As regards the petition, I think it might be productive to have a look at the Scottish Parliament's Public Petitions Committee pages, which include guidelines on how to submit a petition and a dedicated ePetition system.