Stabbing Babies

[madscience]

A young Belgian man went on a stabbing spree in a day care center, killing three and wounding several others.

Obviously this was the result of inadequate knife control laws. Discuss.

Comments

[seanr]

Note that the first spree of comments will be weak attempts to divert the discussion to a parody of an entirely tangential issue: whether tools used by some for killing are effective means of self defense. Because the liberal brain is made of pot resin and caramel popcorn, they will be completely oblivious to the fundamental difference between wielding a knife and a firearm when it comes to self defense, which is that a firearm neutralizes any benefit otherwise gained by an assailant owing to his physical superiority and even to some extent skill, while a knife does not (outside of kung fu movies). So it's a strawman because no sensible self defense advocate would suggest a knife-wielding 90 lb kindergarten teacher could reasonably thwart an assailant.

But where is the true parallel? Knives are tools that can be used for killing humans. Humans who want to kill, which is against the law in nearly every country, will obviously do so regardless of inferior (hierarchically) laws pertaining to tool ownership. Gun laws thus logically (and

[madscience]

a firearm neutralizes any benefit otherwise gained by an assailant owing to his physical superiority

This is an excellent point, one that even many gun-rights advocates fail to understand.

I align myself with liberals on many issues, but gun control isn't one of them.

Most liberals . . . wouldn't dare suggest knife prohibition

Actually, they have. I direct you to the fascist police state that is the United Kingdom.

Rather, we get some vague notion that guns were originally designed with "intent" to murder

Certain guns are. But unlike most gun rights advocates, I don't dance around that fact. The Second Amendment is not about personal defense against common criminals. It's about private citizens having the means to kill cops and soldiers when - not if, when - the government goes bad.

[dwer]

they cannot point to a single valid distinction between a gun and a knife.

Sure I can. To kill with a knife, you have to get down and dirty. You have to put yourself within arm's reach of the person you're trying to kill.

With a gun, that doesn't happen.

There you go. A valid distinction between a gun and a knife.

[madscience]

I think by "valid", he meant "relevant to the issue of their legality."

Although one could argue that killing from a distance depersonalizes the act and makes it psychologically easier, that's not a factor in most of the killings society defines as murders. Most murderers have already dehumanized their victims.

[new_wave_witch]

I see what you did there.

[404]

They should just be armed with their waffles, they could be a deadly weapon.

[madscience]

Firearms aren't particularly lethal in unskilled hands. Even police officers only hit what they're shooting at about 15% of the time.

[debate4fun]

yea... but wouldn't it have been nice if he wasn't ableto get close enough to kill them?