Sheffield-based company Viners has produced the "Assure" range, square-ended knives which are "shaped to reduce and prevent injuries, accidents and fatalities." With knife crimes in England and Wales at their highest in a decade, a 3% increase on last year and the highest level since 2009, this new knife is intended to not be used in crimes and only in the kitchen. While anti-stabbing messages have been left on fastfood containers and a crackdown on knife crime has been tried, for which included limiting the sale of knives, so far nothing has blunted the knife based problem.
When have social problems been solved by technical solutions?
(Score: 2) by The Mighty Buzzard on Sunday January 19 2020, @09:29PM (11 children)
They've already done that. With their stiff upper lip mentality and shield of dry wit, they have an extremely low murder rate. You can never entirely remove the human potential for violence though.
My rights don't end where your fear begins.
(Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday January 19 2020, @09:52PM (10 children)
Worth seeing the statistics again: 11,004 Gun Murders in US vs. 26 in England. And those were probably done by American tourists.
(Score: 2, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Monday January 20 2020, @02:52AM
That's not a statistic, that's slimy marketing. As an example, more people are killed every year by hands and feet than by rifles of all types, and yet was is it everyone wants to ban? A portion of the rifle market.
I'll tell you too, if I was going to be murdered, I would hope it would be with a well placed shot from a gun rather than say with a plastic bag slipped over my head or my belly cut open and my guts hanging out.
(Score: 2) by The Mighty Buzzard on Monday January 20 2020, @05:29AM (7 children)
So the Brit murder victims feel better about themselves knowing they were killed with a knife instead of a gun? Good to know.
My rights don't end where your fear begins.
(Score: 2, Insightful) by c0lo on Monday January 20 2020, @05:54AM (6 children)
So you need more Brits to be killed by firearms than by knives (<300 [bbc.com]) to feel happy? Good to know.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Monday January 20 2020, @02:01PM (2 children)
The better question is, why is anyone comparing total homicides in a state-sized nation, to the total homicides in a nation more than fifty times as large?
The UK violent crime rates are comparable to our individual states. And, that comparison doesn't favor the UK as much as people would have you beleive.
(Score: 2) by c0lo on Monday January 20 2020, @02:14PM (1 child)
If you are referring to the area, please explain how is this relevant.
If you are referring to the population size, I think you are off by an order of magnitude. Unless, overnight, US decided to accept 270-280M immigrants.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Monday January 20 2020, @02:37PM
56 million in England and Wales. Damn, what a pressure cooker! All those people packed into an area that maybe equals our three smallest states combined. Hell, I might be violent if I were jammed nut-to-butt with all those people!!
So, I exaggerated a little. We only have about 7 times the population, spread out over about 1/3 of the North American continent. Counting the undocumented illegal aliens, it might be 8 times the population.
(Score: 2) by The Mighty Buzzard on Monday January 20 2020, @02:27PM (2 children)
No, I want people to at least stop over at lies and damned lies a little bit before they go straight to misusing statistics in the disarmament of the populace issue.
My rights don't end where your fear begins.
(Score: 2) by c0lo on Monday January 20 2020, @02:37PM (1 child)
Because being armed presents such a big advantage when you aren't prepared to use them? Hint: Crocodile this-is-a-knife Dundee is mostly fictional, very few people are mentally prepared to use weapons.
But yes, other things would be better. Like directing their effort in addressing the causes instead of the symptoms.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
(Score: 2) by The Mighty Buzzard on Monday January 20 2020, @02:49PM
Simple solution to that. So simple it's the motto of the Boy Scouts.
My rights don't end where your fear begins.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday January 20 2020, @09:19PM
"Worth seeing the statistics again: 11,004 Gun Murders in US vs. 26 in England"
Try removing the word "gun" from above, and recalculate using accurate figures
for murders/100k people. I think you find the actual numbers are not nearly so
lopsided.