We’ve been blogging a lot lately about efforts to regulate knives, such as a proposed law in Nevada that would make it illegal for a parent to carry a pocket knife to a high school football game.
In researching knife laws, I’ve realized they’re often very similar to gun laws: fear-based and irrational.
I recently checked out a pretty cool video about guns in Switzerland. The Swiss have a proud military tradition and require all males to serve in the militia until the age of 30. When joining, each Swiss citizen is issued a SIG SG 550 automatic rifle, and must keep the weapon at home during their service in case of an invasion. The weapons are inspected regularly to make sure that no unauthorized use occurs and incidents of the guns being used for crime are extremely rare. Militiaman are allowed to keep their weapon after the service, though it is removed of its automatic function.
So, the big question, obviously, is what are the results of this novel experiment?
Well, despite that the fact there are 500,000 automatic weapons kept in homes in Switzerland, there were only 39 attempted murders with guns in 2006. Switzerland has a total population of over 7,600,000, meaning that less than one person in 250,000 is targeted in a gun related incident. In fact, the country even has more knife crime than it has gun crime. Sixty-nine murders were attempted with blades during the same year.
What does it all mean?
Making a country safe isn’t about prohibiting or regulating weapons, it’s about educating the populace to respect them. As America’s politicians continue to erode our freedoms, it’s important to remember that knives and guns are not inherently dangerous things and that endless prohibitions won’t make us a safer nation.
Maybe some day the politicians will wake up to this idea, and every homeowner will be required to have not only a rifle, but also a survival knife at home.
April 17, 2011 at 1:02 pm
And has anyone noticed that the Swiss have NEVER been invaded? Winning…DUHHH!
April 17, 2011 at 1:06 pm
that should be our right since the constitution says we have the right to bear arms but idiots are trying to take away all the right we have fought to keep. MAYBE they all want to be communist and have no rights at all
April 17, 2011 at 1:20 pm
Lmao yea no shit if it wuzn’t for that president then we wouldnt have this problem at all bc he is tha one tryin to ban all tha weapons its stupid we work hard n use our money to buy tha weapons we choose then git told we cant have them lol how stupid is that?
April 17, 2011 at 1:35 pm
Yes it would because trust me if I know Someone has a knife I’m gonna be less likely to try and rob em
April 17, 2011 at 1:36 pm
In kennesaw Georgia everyone was required to own a gun and they had the lowest crime rate in the country
April 17, 2011 at 1:53 pm
Dang son
April 17, 2011 at 1:59 pm
America would not be safer, you would have way too many stupid morons running around with knives, that have absolutely no clue as to how to use them in a fight. They would have thier own knives used on them, and they would deserve it.
April 17, 2011 at 2:29 pm
@Dave, the idea isn’t just “own a knife/gun”, its educating people about the weapons in addition to that
April 17, 2011 at 2:48 pm
How fucking dense do you have to be to think it’s a good idea to give anyone the potential to just randomly go nuts and kill someone? If everyone’s armed, sure, you can defend yourself.. If you’re not dead or incapacitated.
April 17, 2011 at 3:05 pm
I hope yall are not anti gun!
April 17, 2011 at 6:20 pm
Yes, with guns too
April 17, 2011 at 11:24 pm
dude, in the 1940’s guys didn’t just start shit because you never knew what the next guy carried.
April 18, 2011 at 2:25 am
yes
April 18, 2011 at 4:18 pm
yes
April 21, 2011 at 7:46 pm
yes just don’t bring a knife to a gun fight