Scotland bans the claymore . . . again

A report in The Scotsman details the push by the Scottish regional government to ban swords, knives, and pointy sticks:

Cathy Jamieson, the justice minister, published a consultation paper yesterday which recommended a ban on the sale of swords and severe restrictions on the sale of all "non-domestic knives".

If the restrictions are approved, only licensed shops would be able to sell hunting and sporting knives and anyone who wants to buy one will have to provide their personal details to the government as well as a good reason for ownership.

Ministers also announced plans for an outright ban on so-called stealth knives, police-style night sticks and truncheons, to be implemented within a matter of months.

Stealth knives, which are made up of non-metallic blades, are popular with criminals because they can slip unnoticed through metal detectors.

All these weapons will be banned without a consultation, probably by September, bringing Scotland into line with England and Wales.

There really is a problem in Britain, but banning knives and such will only start to tackle it. Next, all beer will have to be sold in plastic containers (broken beer bottles are better bar-fighting weapons than knives, really). That will promptly be followed by all other liquids. Sell your stock in the glass industry now.

Batons, which are really just specialized sticks, are included in the proposed ban. Normal sticks will be banned in the next session — including walking sticks (with or without concealed sword blades), cricket bats (England will never beat Australia again, so why bother encouraging the sport), and hockey sticks. Only licensed sporting goods stores will be allowed to sell any non-round wooden or composite sports equipment.

Tree branches will be covered in the session following that, with unlicensed possession of anything made of wood becoming an ASBO-able offense.

The police will have discretion to interpret the law on the carrying of offensive weapons, as they do now.

So, as long as you don't get up the nose of the investigating officer, you might just get off with a warning. Be in any way distasteful to PC John Peel, and you'll be up on charges faster than you can blink. Discretion is always part of the job of policing, regardless of what the written law may say, but actually writing in the discretion is a license for unequal application of the law. Do I need to say that this is a bad idea?

Hat tip to Elizabeth.