Seen on the Reuters wire:
The government said Wednesday it would ban the sale of samurai swords because the weapons had been used in a number of serious, high-profile attacks.
The Home Office said the swords would be added to the Offensive Weapons Order from April next year, meaning they could not be imported, sold or hired.
However collectors of genuine Japanese swords and those used by martial arts enthusiasts would be exempt from the ban.
While I am concerned about the extent to which American society seems to be heavily armed sometimes, I am not a fan of overreaching restrictions on weapons ownership. Part of that is simply my small-ell libertarian philosophy, and part of it is a more practical concern—criminals are either going to ignore such bans, or they’ll find alternate tools to use, as seems to have been the case in Britain.
You almost have to wonder if the Brits will ban chopsticks or walking sticks next, because in the hands of someone who knows how to use them….