Proposed New York Machete Ban

[Ben]

This article hurts my head. Has this guy ever taken a stroll down the gardening aisle at the Home Depot? Lots worse stuff than machetes there.

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/state-sen-tony-avella-ban-machetes-new-york-article-1.2120874

[makattak]

“I didn’t even know it was possible to buy a machete online,” Terrance’s mother, Greta Price, told the Daily News. “I had no idea that it wasn’t considered a deadly weapon. It should be.”

It's a TOOL. Generally used for brush clearing and whatnot.

I'm curious how they are going to outlaw machetes. Will they be going by name? Because then people will move on to hatchets or kukris or what have you.

And this one:

“He’d still be alive today if it wasn’t for a machete.”

Yes, because there is no other tool ("DEADLY WEAPON!") that can do was a machete does.

[KD5NRH]

This article hurts my head. Has this guy ever taken a stroll down the gardening aisle at the Home Depot? Lots worse stuff than machetes there.

Does this mean Gigabuist is now an arms dealer?

I know plenty of people who could cause a lot more carnage with an unaltered stick they picked up off the ground than I could with a machete.

[Ben]

It's a TOOL. Generally used for brush clearing and whatnot.

I'm curious how they are going to outlaw machetes. Will they be going by name? Because then people will move on to hatchets or kukris or what have you.

And this one:

Yes, because there is no other tool ("DEADLY WEAPON!") that can do was a machete does.

I feel sorry for the mom, but her words are classic NYC apartment dweller. Geographically, 95% of NY has a use for a machete outside of it being a "deadly weapon", but an NYC (Queens) Senator wants to ban them because if someone living on the 10th floor of an NYC apartment doesn't have a need for a machete, neither does the upstate rural resident.

[Scout26]

Police say Sadler slashed Terrance Grier, 17, in the neck with the massive blade during an argument down the block from Sadler’s Hempstead home in July.

Greta Price holds a photo of her 17-year-old son Terrence Grier, who was murdered with a machete in July.
Christie M Farriella/for New York Daily News

Greta Price holds a photo of her 17-year-old son Terrence Grier, who was murdered with a machete in July.

“I didn’t even know it was possible to buy a machete online,” Terrance’s mother, Greta Price, told the Daily News. “I had no idea that it wasn’t considered a deadly weapon. It should be.”

Price said she visits her son’s grave two to three times each week, adding, “He’d still be alive today if it wasn’t for a machete.”

Ummm, no.  I mean I'm sorry your son is dead, but he was killed because he either failed to de-escalate the situation or he chose to continue to argue with a crazy dude armed with a machete.  And he'd be just as dead if crazy dude had a baseball bat, hammer, stick or rock.   The machete didn't do it, crazy dude did.

[KD5NRH]

I feel sorry for the mom, but her words are classic NYC apartment dweller. Geographically, 95% of NY has a use for a machete outside of it being a "deadly weapon", but an NYC (Queens) Senator wants to ban them because if someone living on the 10th floor of an NYC apartment doesn't have a need for a machete, neither does the upstate rural resident.

One could also argue that any of the apartment dwellers might like to camp or hike in an area where the machete would be useful.  What are they supposed to do then, buy it once they leave the state and throw it away at the end of the trip, or arrange out of state storage for a basic camping accessory?

[Perd Hapley]

One could also argue that any of the apartment dwellers might like to camp or hike in an area where the machete would be useful.  What are they supposed to do then, buy it once they leave the state and throw it away at the end of the trip, or arrange out of state storage for a basic camping accessory?

Of course. Bringing such a weapon into peaceful, lawful New York state would be extreme, unsafe, terroristic, etc.

[Boomhauer]

Ummm, no.  I mean I'm sorry your son is dead, but he was killed because he either failed to de-escalate the situation or he chose to continue to argue with a crazy dude armed with a machete.  And he's be just as dead if crazy dude had a baseball bat, hammer, stick or rock.   The machete didn't do it, crazy dude did.

The liberals cannot and will not acknowledge that it is the person and not the object that does the harm.

Why? Because to admit that the person does the harm instead of the object would go against the avoidance of personal responsibility in today's society.

 

[Viking]

The liberals cannot and will not acknowledge that it is the person and not the object that does the harm.

Why? Because to admit that the person does the harm instead of the object would go against the avoidance of personal responsibility in today's society.

 

Memetic weapons. Soviet propaganda worked well, it seems.
http://esr.ibiblio.org/?p=260

In a previous post on Suicidalism, I identified some of the most important of the Soviet Union’s memetic weapons. Here is that list again:

There is no truth, only competing agendas.

All Western (and especially American) claims to moral superiority over Communism/Fascism/Islam are vitiated by the West’s history of racism and colonialism.

There are no objective standards by which we may judge one culture to be better than another. Anyone who claims that there are such standards is an evil oppressor.

The prosperity of the West is built on ruthless exploitation of the Third World; therefore Westerners actually deserve to be impoverished and miserable.

Crime is the fault of society, not the individual criminal. Poor criminals are entitled to what they take. Submitting to criminal predation is more virtuous than resisting it.

The poor are victims. Criminals are victims. And only victims are virtuous. Therefore only the poor and criminals are virtuous. (Rich people can borrow some virtue by identifying with poor people and criminals.)

For a virtuous person, violence and war are never justified. It is always better to be a victim than to fight, or even to defend oneself. But ‘oppressed’ people are allowed to use violence anyway; they are merely reflecting the evil of their oppressors.

When confronted with terror, the only moral course for a Westerner is to apologize for past sins, understand the terrorist’s point of view, and make concessions.

[Perd Hapley]

Her son would still be alive today, were it not for the National Machete Association, and the multi-billion dollar machete industry pushing longer and sharper machetes to the American public. Most shockingly, it is perfectly legal for any New Yorker to buy a machete capable of striking 30 times, or even more.

[Ben]

Her son would still be alive today, were it not for the National Machete Association, and the multi-billion dollar machete industry pushing longer and sharper machetes to the American public. Most shockingly, it is perfectly legal for any New Yorker to buy a machete capable of striking 30 times, or even more.

Indeed, every talking point in the article is classic Brady Campaign anti-gun rhetoric.

"When they came for the..."

[RoadKingLarry]

I've seen machete madness even out here in Sticksville, Oklahoma.
I generally carry a Ruger Vaquero while I'm mowing or otherwise working on the property during the summer. While my son was still in school he had a couple of his friends over one afternoon while I was doing something around the place. I had some reason to go to the shop and get my machete.
There I was with a big ole evil gun hanging off my belt and when I walked out of the shop carrying a machete two of the little weasels with my son about pissed themselves because I had a MACHETE!!!11!!111! 

[T.O.M.]

The liberals cannot and will not acknowledge that it is the person and not the object that does the harm.

Why? Because to admit that the person does the harm instead of the object would go against the avoidance of personal responsibility in today's society.

 

I see this type of logic more and more in the court system.  It's not the fault of the thief that he stole the car, it's the car owner's fault for not locking the car doors.  It's the rape victim's fault for talking nice to the guy at the party.  It's the assault victim's fault for not running away.  etc., etc. ad nauseum.  The thought pattern which says "don't punish this person, just remove his ability to commit the offense and it's all better" does not compute in my mind...

[MechAg94]

Are the blades held in the picture considered machette's?  I don't recall seeing machettes like that.  They look more like kukris or just big knives.

[brimic]

Why not make crime illegal?

[Ben]

Why not make crime illegal?

Well now you're just being ridiculous. I suppose next you'll be wanting people to take personal responsibility for their actions.

[Viking]

Well now you're just being ridiculous. I suppose next you'll be wanting people to take personal responsibility for their actions.

Can't have that. Goes against the "memetic weapons" I posted previously in this thread.

[Perd Hapley]

Are the blades held in the picture considered machette's?  I don't recall seeing machettes like that.  They look more like kukris or just big knives.

"Machete" is usually defined loosely enough that it would include kukuris, bolos, parangs, etc. They look a bit too long to be considered camp knives, so machete works well enough.

[tokugawa]

I see this type of logic idiocy more and more in the court system.  It's not the fault of the thief that he stole the car, it's the car owner's fault for not locking the car doors.  It's the rape victim's fault for talking nice to the guy at the party.  It's the assault victim's fault for not running away.  etc., etc. ad nauseum.  The thought pattern which says "don't punish this person, just remove his ability to commit the offense and it's all better" does not compute in my mind...

 fixed it fer ya.