Nanny State and Scouting: No Knives

[Gratiot]

Scouts to no longer bring penknives on camping trips
Scouts will now be a little worse prepared after they were banned from carrying their traditional penknives due to the fears of those in charge of health and safety.

New advice published in Scouting, the official in-house magazine, says neither Scouts nor their parents should bring penknives to camp except in "specific" situations.

Scouts have traditionally been taught how to use knives correctly, using them on camping trips to cut firewood or carve tools.

At one point Scouts were allowed to carry a sheath knife on their belt as part of their uniform although this is no longer the case. In recent years the Scout Association guidance has been that parents should carry knives to camps or meetings.

Dave Budd, a knife-maker who runs courses training Scouts about the safe use of blades, wrote that the growing problem of knife crime meant action had to be taken.

"Sadly, there is now confusion about when a Scout is allowed to carry a knife," he wrote. "The series of high-profile fatal stabbings [has] highlighted a growing knife culture in the UK.

"I think it is safest to assume that knives of any sort should not be carried by anybody to a Scout meeting or camp, unless there is likely to be a specific need for one. In that case, they should be kept by the Scout leaders and handed out as required."

<snip>

Telegraph.UK

[thundley4]

[Celtic Rose]

So Britain essentially banned guns, then saw stabbing crimes go up.  So now they are clamping down on scouts with pen knives?  Boy scouts are probably some of the most trustworthy youths they have, but they are telling them that they aren't trusted with even a pen knife.  Has there been a rash of crazy scouts attacking people lately, or is this preemptive 

[thundley4]

So Britain essentially banned guns, then saw stabbing crimes go up.  So now they are clamping down on scouts with pen knives?  Boy scouts are probably some of the most trustworthy youths they have, but they are telling them that they aren't trusted with even a pen knife.  Has there been a rash of crazy scouts attacking people lately, or is this preemptive 

I think they may also have to show proof of age to purchase knives there. 

[Gratiot]

So Britain essentially banned guns, then saw stabbing crimes go up.  So now they are clamping down on scouts with pen knives?

A while ago, there was an actual discussion in parliament there, about whether they should ban kitchen knives... from having a sharp tip.  Legislating that they all require rounded, non-sharp tips.   

[JohnnyReb]

My son's Scout Troop requires them to bring their pocket knives to "all" Scout functions. They rather they didn't have the sheath knives but they're OK on backpacking trips.

[MrsSmith]

One of my coworkers has a son in Scouts, and also owns a boat.  He was asked to help the Scout leader do a "boating safety" presentation, so brought his boat to the campground...and then found out that, due to safety concerns, the Scouts had to do their "boating safety" on dry ground.  None of them were allowed to go into a boat on water.      The insanity has come across the ocean.

[DumbAss Tanker]

A while ago, there was an actual discussion in parliament there, about whether they should ban kitchen knives... from having a sharp tip.  Legislating that they all require rounded, non-sharp tips.   

That, believe it or not, is where the modern blunt table knife came from, a couple hundred years ago...an edict requiring table knives to be bluntede to cut down on fatal domestic disputes at the evening meal.

The Brits seem intent on recapturing the fatal 'Civilized' weakness that made the post-Roman Britons easy meat for conquest and enslavement by the armed and aggressive Angles, Saxons, and Jutes.

[The Village Idiot]

So Britain essentially banned guns, then saw stabbing crimes go up.  So now they are clamping down on scouts with pen knives?  Boy scouts are probably some of the most trustworthy youths they have, but they are telling them that they aren't trusted with even a pen knife.  Has there been a rash of crazy scouts attacking people lately, or is this preemptive 

You can expect a drastic drop in those joining the UK scouts. Feel trusted? Nope. Feel prepared? Nope. Feel like they consider a Boy Scout a potential killer? Yep.

And the UK swirls even deeper down the toilet drain.

[thundley4]

Next it will be outlawing cricket bats. 

[Thor]

I think they may also have to show proof of age to purchase knives there.  

I recall a WalMart trip up in Minnesota. One kid, a young lad somewhere the age of 13, went to purchase a knife. The WalMart employee denied the sale because the register prompted for an age check. The boy's mother had just finished checking out and was waiting on the checked out side of the register. Ultimately, his mom had to complete the purchase for him. I had seen the knife and it wasn't anything spectacularly "evil", just a knife. This was only 2 or three years ago.

[jinxmchue]

The series of high-profile fatal stabbings [has] highlighted a growing knife culture in the UK.

Yeah, and who are the ones doing the fatal stabbings, jackass?

A small hint:

NOT BOY SCOUTS!!!

[jinxmchue]

Next it will be outlawing cricket bats. 

Hell, what do they do when people start killing each other with kitchen knives, scissors and razor blades?  Ban them, too?  What will they do when people start killing each other with their bare hands?  Ban hands?

[thundley4]

Hell, what do they do when people start killing each other with kitchen knives, scissors and razor blades?  Ban them, too?  What will they do when people start killing each other with their bare hands?  Ban hands?

They will when Sharia Law takes full effect in England. 

[The Village Idiot]

I remember one Christmas, I was maybe 11 or 12... I got this big box under the tree. Inside was a smaller box, and then a smaller box and then a smaller box and a smaller box and then a box full of packing peanuts..... and a pocket knife I had to fish for.

My little brother had the same thing, packaged the same way.

Neither of us would have ever considered hurting someone.

[AllosaursRus]

I gave my Grandsons a pocket knife for their 8th birthday! It's a frikkin' right of passage! It's when my Dad gave me my first pocket knife, a Barlow. I gave mine "Old Timers". Granted they are very small 2 bladers, but when I got mine, I thought I was King Shit for a Day! They had the same experience. How the hell do you take that away from a boy?

I even remember the first time I cut myself and was afraid to let "mom" know. She just shook her head, gave my Dad that "look" and told me to be more careful.

****in' Assholes!

edited for content

[thundley4]

I remember one Christmas, I was maybe 11 or 12... I got this big box under the tree. Inside was a smaller box, and then a smaller box and then a smaller box and a smaller box and then a box full of packing peanuts..... and a pocket knife I had to fish for.

My little brother had the same thing, packaged the same way.

Neither of us would have ever considered hurting someone.

A pocket knife is now grounds for a charge of carrying a concealed weapon if you are arrested for something else.

MADEIRA BEACH — A 41-year-old man who witnesses said had been drinking since 9 a.m. was arrested Monday afternoon after authorities say he created a disturbance by pretending to drown and throw jellyfish on teenagers.

Keith Edward Marriott, of 100 154th Ave. in Madeira Beach, faces charges of disorderly intoxication and carrying a concealed weapon after a pocketknife was found in his shorts, Pinellas County sheriff's deputies said.

At least in Floriduh.

[jinxmchue]

I remember one Christmas, I was maybe 11 or 12... I got this big box under the tree. Inside was a smaller box, and then a smaller box and then a smaller box and a smaller box and then a box full of packing peanuts..... and a pocket knife I had to fish for.

My little brother had the same thing, packaged the same way.

Okay, I can't decide if that's mean or cool.  It's a little of both.

[The Village Idiot]

Okay, I can't decide if that's mean or cool.  It's a little of both.

My parents had way too much fun that particular Christmas. Making us work at opening those presents.