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| Failing At Gun Control, New York Tries Knife Control | |
| 2010-07-27 | |
| Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance, Jr., today announced a major initiative to reduce the number of illegal knives on the streets of New York, following a large-scale investigation into the sale of illegal knives by local and national retailers doing business in New York. Despite the significant decrease in violent crime over the last decade, illegal knives are an increasingly serious problem in New York City and across the state. The DA's investigation found the widespread sale of knives which, with very limited exception, are illegal to sell, own or carry in the state, such as gravity knives and switchblades. District Attorney Vance's investigation led many of the sellers, including Home Depot, Eastern Mountain Sports, Paragon Sports, and four others, to enter into deferred prosecution agreements.
The "switchblade" law was so broadly written it can be applied to almost any knife that can be opened with one hand. If you have a folding knife with a raised part on the blade that allows you to use your thumb to push the blade open, it counts as a switchblade. The agreements require the companies to turn over all profits from the sale of such knives during the past 4-year period, totaling nearly $1.9 million to date, and to finance a campaign to educate the public about illegal knives. In addition, DA Vance announced the appointment of a District Attorney's Knife Sales Monitor, to ensure compliance of the seven companies with the terms of the deferred prosecution agreements. "The District Attorney's Office has a responsibility to do everything it can to prevent crime in our streets and in our homes," said District Attorney Vance. "The agreements signed by these seven companies, each of whom has demonstrated good corporate citizenship by doing so, are only the beginning of an effort to ensure that illegal knives find no place in Manhattan." Despite New York's drop in violent crime during the past decade, knife violence remains a serious problem in Manhattan. In 2009, there were 2,269 arrests involving the possession of illegal knives in Manhattan, and approximately 30 percent of that year's homicides for the borough involved a stabbing death. Last year the Office prosecuted more than 2,000 cases for possession of illegal knives. In addition, in even greater numbers, knives are used in non-fatal stabbings, in robberies and burglaries, in sexual assaults and other violent crime. | |
| Posted by: Anonymoose |
| #14 Before you know it, you won't be able to buy a grapefruit spoon. They can have my spork, when they can pry it from my cold, dead hand. |
| Posted by: Pappy 2010-07-27 21:54 |
| #13 Ultimately this leads to literally 'disarming' the people. Of course, then some double amputee will Gun Fu knee someone else and the result will be people literally rolling to work. |
| Posted by: Procopius2k 2010-07-27 20:03 |
| #12 When grapefruit spoons are outlawed, only outlaws will have grapefruit spoons. |
| Posted by: no mo uro 2010-07-27 19:01 |
| #11 Sure buddy, just as soon as all the knives are out of prisons and Britain I'll take a look at that. In the meantime, New Yorkers should brandish their other hand-held weapon - the ballot. Y'all too good for salt nazis and knife nannies. |
| Posted by: swksvolFF 2010-07-27 18:36 |
| #10 Next they will be outlawing sticks and stones. |
| Posted by: Glereger Wittlesbach3102 2010-07-27 17:10 |
| #9 We all need to tread very, very carefully here. Next thing you know, we'll be outlawing skillets, pots, pans, rolling pins, and any other "violent weapons". Before you know it, you won't be able to buy a grapefruit spoon. |
| Posted by: Sonoran Refugee 2010-07-27 15:41 |
| #8 are they gonna allow kitchen knives? I'm pretty sure some of those homicides where carried out with a meat cleaver. |
| Posted by: chris 2010-07-27 13:59 |
| #7 Have these dickheads ever heard of the internet? I'm thinking they haven't. I have no doubt police will enforce this to the hilt though-no pun intended. |
| Posted by: bigjim-CA 2010-07-27 13:30 |
| #6 The agreements require the companies to turn over all profits from the sale of such knives during the past 4-year period, totaling nearly $1.9 million to date, and to finance a campaign to educate the public about illegal knives. In addition, DA Vance announced the appointment of a District Attorney's Knife Sales Monitor, to ensure compliance of the seven companies with the terms of the deferred prosecution agreements. Ah, I get it. A revenue generator and hack job creator. You can kill somebody with a steak knife. When will there be a DA's Sharp Stick Sales Monitor position created? |
| Posted by: tu3031 2010-07-27 12:43 |
| #5 Despite New York’s drop in violent crime during the past decade, knife violence remains a serious problem in Manhattan. In 2009, there were 2,269 arrests involving the possession of illegal knives in Manhattan, and approximately 30 percent of that year’s homicides for the borough involved a stabbing death. Last year the Office prosecuted more than 2,000 cases for possession of illegal knives. In addition, in even greater numbers, knives are used in non-fatal stabbings, in robberies and burglaries, in sexual assaults and other violent crime. Gee Mr. DA, it sure is clever how you’re able to conflate two related but dissimilar issues into sounding like they’re one and the same problem. Damn, the way you alternate back and forth between statements of “knife violence” and “possession of illegal knives” almost makes your successful extortion appear justified. But, out of curiosity, what percentage of those “stabbing deaths” and “violent crimes” actually involved “illegal knives”? |
| Posted by: DepotGuy 2010-07-27 12:31 |
| #4 My grandson recently bought a machete, it has a saw blade on the back, neat tool for heavy brush. |
| Posted by: Redneck Jim 2010-07-27 11:49 |
| #3 Strange times. Just the other day I noticed that the local hardware store was selling machetes, likely because many of the "local gardening subcontractors" see the machete as an essential gardening tool. While not done here, in Guatemala I actually saw workers cutting lawn grass with machetes. Now that is sharp. |
| Posted by: Anonymoose 2010-07-27 10:15 |
| #2 This is just a shake-down attempt - and looks like a successful one at that. Just goes to show that government is the biggest racket of all. |
| Posted by: Spot 2010-07-27 08:31 |
| #1 In other words, we are totally ignoring the progress made in the past and instead focusing on new ills with which to vex us with restrictive new laws. |
| Posted by: gromky 2010-07-27 06:41 |