Cutting edge crime prevention

In the US, it's all about guns. We have gun control laws, higher penalties for using guns in the commission of a crime, penalties for carrying guns without permits, restrictions on the purchase of guns. There's a lot of political tension between the gun control advocates and the gun rights advocates.

In Scotland, they've pretty much turned over their guns. Does that mean they don't have the same issues as we do in the US? No, of course not.

There, it's all about knives - knife control laws, higher penalties for using knives in commission of a crime, penalties for carrying knives about, restrictions on purchasing knives. And political tension about what should be done with the knife problem.

What happens when Scotland gets rid of all its knives? Are bats, sharpened forks, pillows and socks at risk? Will they pass laws requiring that pillows have air holes and socks must come apart if swung at a particular velocity while weighted with metal of a certain mass?

I have no problem with enhanced sentences for using certain types of weapons, if it shows evidence of reducing crime or the severity of harm to victims. But this continued effort to strip citizens of their means of protection - from rampaging family members, criminals or the government - cannot in the long run be the best thing for democratic governments. Yet still we blindly go forward like lemmings leaping off the cliff to destruction.