Sale Of Large Knives Questioned
Still no arrests after attack in Saskatoon
News of a chilling day-light Machete attack on Saskatoon's Meewasin trail has Mayor Don Atchison calling for action from the justice department.
News Talk Radio is keeping you updated on the story of a man attacked by three others on Spadina Crescent East Monday, and cut up by a big blade. The victim remains in serious condition. The suspects are still at large.
How difficult is it to acquire a machete or a sword of some type ?
At Bianca Amore's Liquidation Superstore, there are literally hundreds of bladed weapons for sale.
There are meat cleavers, katanas and broad swords ranging from $20 to about $100. There are also machetes.
A clerk at the store, Chantel Gorsalitz says the only restriction is people must of legal age and prove it with photo ID.
She says once the transaction is completed there is no way to track where the weapons go, who purchased them, or for what purpose.
Comments
knife violence
I'm a sword enthusiast from a long way back. The majority of the weapons sold commercially today are cheap steel that won't hold an edge. Machetes are a major exception. They are a great tool for clearing brush and other grunt work around the yard, but they are DANGEROUS!! ANyone caught wandering around with one should be charged with carrying/concealling a weapon and should have the book thrown at them. Anyone using one to commit a crime should be dealt with as harshly as if they had used a gun.
There are also no
There are also no restrictions on knives bought at department stores, restaurant suppliers, and hardware stores. Nor are there any restrictions on sports stores to sell baseball bats, hockey sticks, or sling shots.
We'll never eliminate criminal use of weapons, and getting rid of one weapon just creates another.
What we need is an alert and vigilant public who will respond immediately when they see three little thugs brandishing such a weapon. If that UoS student had called police right away, that other guy likely would not have been attacked.
Don't put the blame on the
Don't put the blame on the kid who was running for his life. Obviusly he was overwhelmed by everything that was happening
Knives
For at least 10 or 15 years now, I've been getting mad whenever I walk past that knife store in the Victoria Square Mall in Regina. I don't agree that the owner should be selling most of that crap in there. Worse, I always see teenage boys in there gawking at the displays. Not good.
Sorry to all the freedom-loving Saskies who hate the gun registry - but I support strict gun and knife control.
So, you're in favor of
So, you're in favor of trampling the freedoms of the law-abiding people of Saskatchewan, instead of curtailing the freedom of those committing the crimes? What's next...you want to start telling people what they can and cannot drive?
RE:
That's a Fox-News-type of inferential question. I'm talking about controlling guns and knives.
oh please....
The problem is the person wandering the street with the machete in the first place, not the actual machete. Besides, the stuff sold in most stores are display objects. If you are so offended by that store, don't make a point of looking at it or the merchandise. Just walk by it. Not that hard.
Sale Of Large Knives Questioned
Better get the Liberals working on a (wink, wink) $2 million registry for such weapons. That will certainly make the world a safer place. Or, just maybe, we could focus on finding the perpetrators and having a judge actually give them a sentence which might deter future episodes.
Billion, with a B
The gun registry was over 2 *billion*...not millions.
I know, hence the (wink,
I know, hence the (wink, wink).
Long knives
Well, presumably they are buying them to fend off machete-wielding gang members.
Perhaps we could get some sort of 'long knife registry', then we would have a record of all the people that legally acquired long knives. It would actually be pretty simple: you are entered into a database when you purchase a knife, then the knife is sent to you after you clear a background and reference check. When you wanted to use the knife, you could apply to the CKRS (Canadian Knife Registry Service) for a permit to take a knife with you on a camping trip, or to carve Sunday turkey at your mother-in-law's. These permits could be short term, or long term renewed annual. Similar projects have been successfully implemented at a surprisingly low cost to the tax payer.
Of course, this would still leave the sticky (stabby?) problem of people that would acquire long knifes from less than legal sources. I guess as long as they remember to register them we should be OK.
This was obviously a gang
This was obviously a gang initiation with an innocent victim now in the hospital. Knives need to be taken more seriously as they are becoming more the weapon of choice. If you are caught with a knife without a good reason to be using it, you should be charged and going to jail because you obviously have intentions to stab someone with it. There aren't many buffalo and deer roaming the countryside anymore that you would need a knife to hunt with, especially in the city. I demand the city of Saskatoon looks at the very seriously as I am now concerned for my safety as I work downtown.
Who is questioning the sale
Who is questioning the sale of the large knives? What action did Mayor Don call for? Why does your story focus on the blade as opposed to the individuals who used one in the commission of an assault?
Banning large knife sales
So, if large knives are banned from being legally owned, what will thugs use?
Well, ever hear the term "plowshares into swords"?
The problem is not the weapon, and the mayor completely misses that. The problem is that thugs are on the street.
Of course, the easiest thing is to target lawful retailers because, well, they are lawful. It's just a little tougher to pursue hoodlums because, well, that would take commitment from the justice department to support the police. Guaranteed, if the police were supported by the judicial arm of the law, we would see LESS of this.
Oh well, lets make sure that you can't buy a machete anywhere. That'll solve the problem. Maybe we could create a registry....
K people. Think about this
K people. Think about this for one cotton picking minute. You're a cop. There was a machete attack. (comment edited by moderater).. Hmmm. That's a lot to go on. So what do you do? What's your first step to finding them? Well, actually, you probably wouldn't know what to do. Now imagine this. Everyone who buys a machete has to show something like 4 pieces of ID, driver's license, health card, SIN card and whatever else. Then their name is entered into a database. (This is easy, they have databases for when you rent MOVIES for pete's sake.) Then, an attack happens. So, the police check the databases for machetes purchased in the city, and can question those people. They just may find a group of thugs. At the very least, it's a place to start. Don't fool yourselves, the cops are scratching their heads over these types of incidences. They don't have a clue where to start or what to do. My family, in a nice neighbourhood, has been attacked in different ways the past few months. "Thugs" with too much time on their hands... etc. The police come around once in awhile and ask more questions, but are they ever going to solve anything? No. We may as well give them as many tools as possible to be able to solve crimes. What would CSI do without all of their little databases? Horatio would be stopped at stage one. So, how will you feel walking downtown now? How about all of you women joggers? Is the view of the riverbank worth your life? How do you feel now about Brad Wall spending all of his time trying to bring unemployed Ontarians to our province? "Welcome to Saskatoon.. 4 machete attacks this year!" Enjoy the riverbank, but keep your cell with you, just in case you're attacked. Awesome. I would like to see him out in public speaking about new crime prevention initiatives.. I'd like to see SOME sort of effort. SOME response the us being such a dangerous city. I mean, wouldn't you sleep better knowing the Premier is aware, and doing everything humanely possible to keep us safer??? How about more funding for new crime prevention measures, instead of more funding for Ontarians to come here! Also, What is more important? protecting knife retailers, or the general public? Are we really that much of a capitalist society now that when we want to ban weapons, we won't because it might hurt business? Give me a freaking break. Everydone denies that this city is dangerous.. until this happens downtown.. and now people are saying they don't feel safe downtown. Isn't it amazing how people refuse to believe statistics until they see the problem with their own eyes? Welcome to the most dangerous city in Canada, folks.
Tools for the job
I agree that we need to offer our police services every tool that we can in order for them to do their jobs effectively. The only thing is, I'll bet you a 12 pack of Tim Horton's finest that if such a database was used to apprehend the people involved in cases such as this, they would discover that they've already been arrested and released on numerous occasions.
Public safety will be improved when the criminal element is removed from the equation...preferably for good, but I'll settle for 5-10 years :)
Jail time for gang related assault
Just for reference, here's what you get for assaulting someone (witnesses say with a knife) when you're already on probation:
http://www2.canada.com/reginaleaderpost/news/city_province/story.html?id...
2 months in jail. Whooptee freaking do. That will teach 'em!
The law provides for up to 10 years in jail for assault with a weapon, and yet how often does that actually get handed down?
You're actually seriously
You're actually seriously talking of banning k n i v e s...and blaming capitalism a bit...
W
T
F
seriously...that's a complete nutburger with fries
think about this
Okay now you answer a few questions.
1. Do you really believe that these guys went out and purchased a machete just prior to the incident and just for this express purpose or was it something that just was there so became the weapon of opportunity?
2. You said your family has been attacked in different ways over the past several months, so how many databases are we up to now?
3. And most telling, do you really believe what you see on CSI?
let's also ban bricks! They
let's also ban bricks! They can crack skulls dont'cha know.
Brick Registry
I, for one, support the brick registry. I have a large collection of bricks which I keep safely in my home. Literally.
Knives?
Pathetic liberals. Once upon a time, Darwinism would have eliminated your ideas from the gene pool. Today, however there is little to force you to accept the responsibilities of your ideas.
Arm your populace and the level of civic politeness will amaze you.
A few more stories like this, and you will join the cadre of irrelevant newspapers that the majority don't read anymore.
Pathetic neo-con. This is
Pathetic neo-con. This is what would have happened if that citizen had been legally armed as you suggest. You'd have one dead thug. You'd have one dead cut up victim. You'd have random bullets ringing throughout downtown Saskatoon wounding and killing random bystanders. And you would have two still alive gang members now in posession of a gun instead of a machete.
I know it's your wet dream to someday legally kill teenage gang members but I'm guessing it's not that easy to kill three people at close range while one of them is hitting you with a machete.
I also don't think people's comments on the CKOM website is going to put them out of business. Just as newspapers so called liberal views (by the way have you read a Canwest newspaper in the last 5 years?) aren't what's putting them out of business. Free content on a million different 24 hour news stations and web sites, including their own, is what's putting them out of business. Unless you think that after more than 100 years of reading newspapers every conservative in the world suddenly decided to stop buying them 4 years ago based on ideological view point?
But why let facts interfere with your non informed braying Mr Anonymous?
I'd like to see 55 million
I'd like to see 55 million invested in this problem instead of moving a river front art gallery to a river front art gallery.
Sale of Large knives
Keep working on it gang, with enough effort we'll turn this into an actual issue.
Has it been made known to
Has it been made known to the public if this was a "random attack"?
long knives
The problem is the person who make the choice to pick up a knife, sword, hockey stick, pen, whatever and choose to threaten and/or cause harm to another person. I believe that banning knives will not solve the problem but make it harder on law abiding people. Hand guns are strictly controlled but they are still be used to commit crimes. Give power back to the police to do the job of protecting the honest people of the land.
Why is it that media people
Why is it that media people and politicians in this country obsess about the instruments used rather than just going after the thugs and taking them off the street (which is what actually works and you know this full well!)? Why do you cling to this belief that constraining and reducing options for lawful people affects the behavior of criminals. It is CRIMINAL BEHAVIOR we must be addressing here, folks.
Description???
Is it just me or would it not help to release a DESCRIPTION of the machete weilding maniac(s) at large??? Should people of Saskatoon just look for people standing in groups of three? Come on, maybe somebody knows something, but we don't even have aproximate age or descriptions of the three people. Crimestoppers does it all the time.
too quote murry wood
If you ban steak knives, only criminals will be able to eat steak.
Whats next?? Ali Baba and his 40 thieves.
This has become a daily occurence here in Sask. Crimes committed with a weapon, violent crimes, drug related crimes, gang related crimes and crimes in general. So what are we going to do about it. The first and most important thing that we need to do is set the concequences for crime in general. I remember as a child that I got the strap( a piece of leather belting about 18" long). Some 50 years later I can still feel the sting that it brought. The strap was administered by my father and I have the highest praise for his action even today. The strap did not damage my chemical makeup as a human, it only gave me a good reason to not make the same error in judgement the second time. I suggest that the lash be brought back to be used as a deterent to these crimes. You won't be so willing to reoffend if you know there is some bite to the punishment. For all those who feel this is to harsh I challenge you to find a better solution. Think about the poor guy in Saskatoon fighting for his life after being cowardly attached and beaten with a knife.
Sale Of Large Knives Questioned
I would agree with you, as I can remember when I was growing up, the mentality of the general public was to abide the laws as we were afraid of the consequences for any unlawful actions. These consequences have been stripped away by means of the under age criminals slipping through our justice system loop holes. We can talk all you want about the gang problems, the police know who is in what gangs but if they arrest them, the courts would let these criminals out before the police would even have the paperwork done, so I can see the police's frustration. I am like "old school" and eye for an eye. These type of crimes were never heard of in my generation and yet today's generation think this is just a big joke. Personally, I think if there were more vigilant people out there doing "Old School" policing these punks would think twice of pulling this kind of crap. Here is an idea - why don't the police take all the gang members ( they know they are )and if they are caught doing illegal activities would receive an automatic 5 year term ( no chance of parole )for any crime. Now I know that our jails would fill up in a hurry but at least they would be off the streets. Most of them are repeat offenders anyway, we would be saving alot of taxpayers money and alot of extra paperwork. We need harsh consequences for all violent crimes. And like many have stated before it is not the weapon that is the issue it is the person wielding the weapon - remove the human factor and then these criminals will think twice. And for the guy that stated about attracting people from Ontario - HAH leave them there and spend the money to promote business to the people that actually live here - politicians make me sick as well they lie to get to power, when they get to power they do not do what they say they do and they make too much money for what they do - hell give them a 50% pay cut and let's see how many want the job after.
5 minutes with a grinder and
5 minutes with a grinder and I could turn a leaf spring into a machette...the whole idea of a knife registry is absolutely insane...how would you even BEGIN to register the MILLIONS of knives, swords, etc already out there...or stop people from making all they want?
Get real.
Are you guys kidding?? What crack head seriously believes that any registry does good. It does not prevent anything. Do you REALLY think that anyone acquiring a gun/knife/any item to be used as a weapon (YES, THAT’S RIGHT, ANY item can be used as a weapon. Better register your pens, because they CAN be a very effective weapon too) is going to register them? NO THEY WILL NOT.
Anyone with the intent to commit a crime, whether it be property or violent, is going to use whatever means available to them. If a gun or knife is not at hand, then they will use a screwdriver, or a 2x4.
Banning tools has never resolved the issue of tools being used in crime. The criminals will never abide by the laws enforced on the general public. THAT IS THE VERY PRINCIPLE OF BEING A CRIMINAL!!!!!
Flip this around the other way. Pretend that YOU are that criminal, out for a nice walk/spray painting with your buddies, and there's a nice lady in the park. Not too many people around, perfect opportunity for that casual raping. Not much thought goes into it. There, you have a helpless victim. Now take that same situation in a society where concealed carrying of firearms is legal. You, as that same criminal in that same situation approached that same lady in the park, but this time, there’s a 25% chance she or someone within earshot is carrying a firearm, does that affect your decision to continue? ABSOLUTELY
Can anyone not see that allowing the carrying of firearms not only protects the ones carrying, but by instilling fear and doubt in the criminals, protects everyone? That alone reduces crime. If that same law abiding citizen is say pulled over by the police for whatever reason and getting out of the vehicle is required, a simple "Officer, I am carrying concealed, and have a permit to do so" (remember, he is a LAW ABIDING CITIZEN).
Having an armed society is not only our RIGHT (that has been taken away by our government with the help of the liberal-minded near-sighted, uninformed segment of the population that believes banning tools is the answer) but is beneficial to the ones who opt not to be armed.
The argument that using a firearm for self defense, introduces another firearm to the criminal is moot: had they wanted one they would have acquired it beforehand, and about bullets "flying all over downtown". There’s a concept out there you may not comprehend. It’s called PROFICIENCY. Being proficient (there’s that word again) with a firearm is one of the PREREQUISITES (sorry for all the big words) to ACQUIRING a permit to carry a firearm.
Look for example at crime statistics in the US. States with relaxed firearms laws, generally have less personal/violent crime, but don’t believe me, look it up.
And yes, you could say that I AM somewhat knowledgeable on the subject as due to my current occupation, I DO carry a firearm 5 days a week.