Today’s Mass Stabbings

Last edited:
So it's the old 'guns don't kill people'?
Of course, they don't. They just make it much, much easier to kill an awful lot of people in a matter of minutes whereas it took "a spate of stabbings in 13 locations" to kill 10 people with knives.
 
dann said:
So it's the old 'guns don't kill people'?
Of course, they don't. They just make it much, much easier to kill an awful lot of people in a matter of minutes (from a distance) whereas it took "a spate of stabbings in 13 locations" to kill 10 people with knives.
Click to expand...

Friendly FTFY

Indeed. The Las Vegas, Sandy Hook, Uvalde and Christchurch Mosque mass killings could not have been carried out with a knife.
 
It is undeniable that the biggest mass killings of the modern era have been carried out with guns. Not knives. This proves the vacuity of the argument that the weapon is not the problem.
 
Warp12 said:
How so?

It just highlights the fact that the weapon is not the underlying issue. If we focused as much effort on mental health as we do on weapons, we would see more benefit. Imo.
Click to expand...
Maybe, but the two are not mutually exclusive either. It's of course trivially true that people who really want to go on a killing spree can do it in many different ways - knives, box cutters, runaway trucks, poison, stranglings, and so forth. But it is also pretty obviously true that, horrible as such incidents are, they are less frequent than mass shootings, and generally less lethal.

And how much real effort are we focusing on weapons? How much money? Lots of talk, not much real progress.
 
bruto said:
And how much real effort are we focusing on weapons? How much money? Lots of talk, not much real progress.
Click to expand...


I believe we focus a lot more impotent effort on weapon controls. How often do you see front-page news about the importance of mental health care, and funding it for those who can't afford such, or programs that will prioritize such?

I am for say, increased gun control. But when we get to the point of "knife control", we are clearly not addressing the root cause of the problem.
 
Last edited:
Warp12 said:
I believe we focus a lot more impotent effort on weapon controls. How often do you see front-page news about the importance of mental health care, and funding it for those who can't afford such, or programs that will prioritize such?

I am for say, increased gun control. But when we get to the point of "knife control", we are clearly not addressing the root cause of the problem.
Click to expand...
I suppose it depends on which paper you read, and what is the kind of news that gets on front pages. As for knife control, plenty of places do actually have that, for all the good it does, which I doubt is much. Plenty of places limit the length of blade one can carry, and even in Vermont, where there is no such limit and you can legally carry a machete or a sword, switchblades are illegal.

I do actually agree that the root cause of the problem is not the implements used, but I don't think the problems are mutually exclusive.
 
I assumed certain usual suspects be would in thread with a "See! See! If you take aways guns we'll just stab each other with knives!" hottake and ignore the fact that my home state has had more people shot with guns in between the first post in this thread and now then were killed in the Canada attack.

The Canada Knife Attack is a tragic but rare occurance, not "Everyday."
 
Warp12 said:
I am for say, increased gun control. But when we get to the point of "knife control", we are clearly not addressing the root cause of the problem.
Click to expand...
"Knife control" is a reductio ad absurdum straw argument usually brought by opponents of gun control.
 
arthwollipot said:
"Knife control" is a reductio ad absurdum straw argument usually brought by opponents of gun control.
Click to expand...

Well, come on, he has a point. It was posted earlier that kitchen cutlery manufacturers were making stab resistant designs. At some point, you have to take a step back and say "you know, these people are just murderous. Maybe the tool is not what we should be focusing on".
 
Thermal said:
Well, come on, he has a point. It was posted earlier that kitchen cutlery manufacturers were making stab resistant designs. At some point, you have to take a step back and say "you know, these people are just murderous. Maybe the tool is not what we should be focusing on".
Click to expand...
No, there is no point here. There's a huge difference between a murderous person with a knife, and a murderous person with an AR-15.
 
arthwollipot said:
No, there is no point here. There's a huge difference between a murderous person with a knife, and a murderous person with an AR-15.
Click to expand...

Oh, agreed, and many firearms including semis and handguns should be out of civilian hands, IMO. But it's still fair to note that if you feel like you need to redesign cutlery to keep people from murdering, the problem lieth not so much with the available tools. Lose the guns on the street, but focus more on why the population keeps killing each other.
 
Thermal said:
Oh, agreed, and many firearms including semis and handguns should be out of civilian hands, IMO. But it's still fair to note that if you feel like you need to redesign cutlery to keep people from murdering, the problem lieth not so much with the available tools. Lose the guns on the street, but focus more on why the population keeps killing each other.
Click to expand...
Sure, because we're going to solve the problem of why people murder. Give me a research grant and I'll get right on it.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Back
Top Bottom