Knives and teenagers.......

[Cranky]

Last week, I went to a high end knife shop to buy a hunting/camping knife. Unfortunately, this shop is located near a high crime area.

So I'm at the counter looking over two large hunting knives. The place had only one salesman (owner) and apparently, the guy ahead of me bought his Samurai Sword (replica) and forgot his eyeglasses case. The owner asks me to look after the store for a minute while he ran through the plaza to give the guy his case. I thought to myself..."Wow I look that trust worthy? What am I doing wrong?"

Two kids walk in. One is in his mid teens and one late teens. They are brown and slightly built. They look over the knives through the case and now I'm a touch worried because there is a large hunting knife on the end of the counter. If they try to take it and run, well, they got themselves a new knife because I'm not going to stop them. Worse still, I may be stuck there for hours if the owner calls the cops and they investigate.

Anywho......they don't play out my Freddy Kruger nightmare, but instead start a conversation with me. They wanted to know what is the legal length of knife they can carry. I explained that Ontario law has no length exemptions and instead, it's a matter of indented use. They knew switch blades were illegal but wanted to know if lockable blades were legal. I didn't answer that (they are). I made it clear to them that at their age, what argument could they possibly make that it's a tool and what would be the consequences of getting charges with possession of a weapon? Undeterred, for five minutes, they kept asking the same carry question ten different ways to get a different answer. Finally, they left without buying anything.

I bought my knife, left the plaza and as I was driving out, I saw a police car. I thought about telling the cops so they could have a conversation with my two new friends but, what are the odds that I get involved more then I should or is smart to do so. Or a very large camping knife in my trunk is a discussion? I drove off.

So what's wrong with this picture....

A knife store near a questionable neighborhood. I can't blame the owner since he is running a legitimate business and his market is high end knives and memorabilia. On the other hand, it doesn't help where he is. Sure, they can always take a bus even if he was in a different location, but accessibility doesn't help.

Teenagers who think they need to buy knives for what was clearly intended as a weapon. How long and what are the odds that they land up as a statistic?

All I can do is shake my head and sigh......

[CentreHice]

Throughout history, haven't the basic weapons of the day always been somewhat accessible...even illegally?

Clubs, rocks, slings, slingshots, swords, knives, guns....

And in some areas, if everyone else is carrying a weapon....are you going to be the only one without?

I agree with your concern, but I don't think it's anything new. Survival in one's environment may include the need of a weapon.

I'm not even talking about a criminal element....and certainly there have always been young punks and thugs as well.

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Racial profiling--as you mentioned "brown" and "a high crime area"--is another issue and perhaps one this thread will explore. It seems you can't say anything, even if it's based solely on stats, without being branded a racist.

[Cranky]

Jan 9, 2011 17:42:51 GMT -5 CentreHice said:

.
Racial profiling--as you mentioned "brown" and "a high crime area"--is another issue and perhaps one this thread will explore. It seems you can't say anything, even if it's based solely on stats, without being branded a racist.

It IS a high crime area and they were brown....and the majority of murders are to blacks and brown kids. How can I sugar coat that?

This is the same conversation I had with those kids. I asked them who they thought was in the most high risk category? They said young people. I asked then if THEY were cops, who would they be more concerned about with a knife? They said themselves. Maybe they were blowing smoke up my butt......but maybe, just maybe, they are realist and it's not about "profiling" but about their safety.

Sad reality......and no amount of political correctness can cover it up.

tdotmurders.blogspot.com/search?updated-min=2010-01-01T00:00:00-08:00&updated-max=2011-01-01T00:00:00-08:00&max-results=50

The only question that should come about, is how can this be stopped. How can we draw these kids away from an environment where they think they need weapons to survive.

[CentreHice]

Jan 10, 2011 1:05:52 GMT -5 Cranky said:

Jan 9, 2011 17:42:51 GMT -5 CentreHice said:

.
Racial profiling--as you mentioned "brown" and "a high crime area"--is another issue and perhaps one this thread will explore. It seems you can't say anything, even if it's based solely on stats, without being branded a racist.

It IS a high crime area and they were brown....and the majority of murders are to blacks and brown kids. How can I sugar coat that?

This is the same conversation I had with those kids. I asked them who they thought was in the most high risk category? They said young people. I asked then if THEY were cops, who would they be more concerned about with a knife? They said themselves. Maybe they were blowing smoke up my butt......but maybe, just maybe, they are realist and it's not about "profiling" but about their safety.

Sad reality......and no amount of political correctness can cover it up.

tdotmurders.blogspot.com/search?updated-min=2010-01-01T00:00:00-08:00&updated-max=2011-01-01T00:00:00-08:00&max-results=50

The only question that should come about, is how can this be stopped. How can we draw these kids away from an environment where they think they need weapons to survive.

Hope you didn't take my post the wrong way. No need to sugarcoat facts. I was just saying that it's difficult for Caucasians to talk about it. Too often it's taken with racist overtones.

The real solution lies in curing the disease.....but there are so many causes and strains....and they're firmly-entrenched. For example, there's nothing new about drug-trafficking/organized crime.

All the rest of society seems to be able to do is treat the symptoms....while keeping a safe distance.

[Doc Holliday]

Male Kids fascinated by weaponry...

...Sorry Cranky, interesting annecdote, and I don't mean to be sacrcastic but I think I am missing the point as there is hardly something out of the ordinary here. Unless you are suggesting to control over the counter weapon sale in certain areas and/or to certain races? Frankly, I don't think you'll be achieving much in terms of criminality rate decrease.

[Habs_fan_in_LA]

Two slightly built brown kids?
Must be Siekhs.........
It is very dangerous to carry a knife in Los Angeles. Everyone else is carrying hand guns.
It is dangerous to carry hand guns in Afghanistan, everyone else is carrying machine guns.
In Korea you better carry a nuke as a deterant.
It's dangerous to carry any weapon in Tel Aviv. Everyone else is a lawyer.
Anyone else I haven't offended. In reality it's not the weapon that's scary, it's the human behind the trigger.
In prison a weapon can be fabricated out of old razor blades, wooden pencils and duct tape.
Box cutters were used on 9/11.
Like dundee said, "that's not a knife, this is a knife!"