Shock Horror

Head of the government's paramilitary wing, Herr Smith, has said that 'young people who carry knives' will be made to visit hospitals and learn about stab injuries in order to 'shock them into changing their behaviour'.

Boy, quite a bit to cover there. Let's see. First, carrying a knife is not illegal! Not necessarily anyway. I carry a knife everyday and I do so perfectly legally. What 'power' then does Herr Smith intend to employ in order to force these people to be re-educated? I say 'power' because surely there is no law enabling her to do this. The answer, I suspect, is the barrel of a gun.

Secondly, why would someone who carries a knife need to be 'shocked' with stab injuries? Most knives are not weapons. Most people who carry knives do not carry them as weapons. It's like arresting somebody for wearing shoes and making them learn about kicking injuries. If we were talking about people who had actually stabbed people (and not in self-defence) then things might be different, but these are people who have done nothing wrong.

Thirdly, if I'm carrying a knife to defend myself I want that knife to do a lot of damage when I need to employ it. You don't carry a knife as a weapon in order to send them home with a bruised behind. You carry a knife as a weapon primarily to destroy the muscle tissue and sever the tendons of your assailant in order to neutralise him as a threat, and secondly to cause trauma, pain and haemorrhaging that will reduce his ability to fight and thus make your primary objectives easier to complete. Knowing that a knife does lots of damage is a good thing if you're carrying it as a weapon.

My chosen home-defence rounds are .357 magnum and 12 bore 00 buck. Showing me photographs of the terrible wounds these calibers inflict is not going to make me break down in tears, throw away my weapons and become a vegetarian. In fact, it's going to make me happier with my choices and more confident in their ability to put threats where they belong: on the floor. I will add, however, that in my opinion knives and spikes make poor defensive weapons and, whilst they are better than nothing, there are much better choices, even besides firearms.

Finally, something nobody seems to have picked up on: young people. Why does Herr Smith specify young people? Are older people not to be subjected to this same form of re-education? A government that claims to stand up for minorities and against discrimination is in fact the very government that discriminates against young people, and not just in word but in deed.