Doctors' kitchen knives ban call

BBC reported A&E doctors are calling for a ban on long pointed kitchen knives to reduce deaths from stabbing. A team from West Middlesex University Hospital said violent crime is on the increase - and kitchen knives are used in as many as half of all stabbings. They argued many assaults are committed impulsively, prompted by alcohol and drugs, and a kitchen knife often makes an all too available weapon. The research is published in the British Medical Journal. The researchers said there was no reason for long pointed knives to be publicly available at all. They consulted 10 top chefs from around the UK, and found such knives have little practical value in the kitchen. None of the chefs felt such knives were essential, since the point of a short blade was just as useful when a sharp end was needed.

To illustrate this the article showed a picture of injuries to an ear and the face, which it would seem could well have been caused by a short blade just as well as a long blade.

The researchers said a short pointed knife may cause a substantial superficial wound if used in an assault - but is unlikely to penetrate to inner organs. In contrast, a pointed long blade pierces the body like "cutting into a ripe melon".

And a sharp knife with a blunt edge is still useful for slitting throats.

The use of knives is particularly worrying amongst adolescents, say the researchers, reporting that 24% of 16-year-olds have been shown to carry weapons, primarily knives.

And how many of those teenagers have been carrying long kitchen knives?

Tom @ScaredMonkeys blogged Ah, good to see the nanny state is in full swing over across the pond.

Mark in Mexico blogged Jim Bowie rolls over in his grave - They can have my pointy-edged, razor-sharp knife when they can pry it out of my cold dead hands. 25 bucks would also work.

David Carr blogged Doctors call for ban on opposable thumbs.

The Cranky Professor blogged Do you have a license for that long, pointy kitchen knife? Kitchen inspections. That's what it will call for. With confiscation of unlicensed knives.

K. J. Lopez blogged Really, what took so long? We need knife-control laws.