UK Katana Ban?

[MARCVS PETRONIVS MAIVS]

Just a thought, but imagine, when they get through banning everything down to a letter opener, the exempted Roman reenactors will be in a position to take over anything they want to, and make everyone do whatever they want. No one can resist them when the opposition is down to rocks and farm implements. And we all know that Roman armor, shields, and tactics, are proof against that. No more paying for a beer if you don't want to...

Ralph

lol, the way the this country takes its health and safety rules, its general paranoia and policies such as these I will not be surprised when that day comes!

[Gaius Decius Aquilius]

I have been shopping for a katana these last few days, (preferably a Shino or Shin-Shinto that is not Gunto), and found this out: In Japan you cannot own a Gunto that was machine made, as were a lot of pre-war and war time "issue" swords. Those that were made by traditional methods, are therefore "kami" (loosely meaning having a an internal spirit). Katanas produced by traditional methods, are OK to buy, sell, and own, although I believe there is some sort of registration process. I think it might be hard to 86 anything in Japan that is kami. Also, in 1973, during a televised debate, one local politician took out his opponent with a katana. Or so I was told.

R. Izard

[Magnus]

I think some of that has to do with post-war attitudes towards the japanese war ethic. The gunto (not including the forged blades) were seen almost as objects which represented the decay? of the honourable japanese spirit.

You also can't take chinese or american made katana into Japan, whereas iaito (the aluminum training swords) are ok. Very strict stuff, but I prefer it that way.

What katana sites you check out Ralph?

I like these:

http://www.japanesesword.com/

http://www.nihontocraft.com/japanese_sw ... _sale.html

http://www.nihonto.ca/

and my favorite:

http://www.aoi-art.com/

One day I'll own a true nihonto....for now I'm having my friend do a custom chinese made katana for me (he does tsuka-maki, tsuka cores and fittings). Probably won't get to it till next year, but it'll look sharp.

[RadcliffeV]

No weapons ban in history has ever worked, and always caused more violence than it's ever stopped. It applied to the great sword hunts at the beginning of the Edo period in Japan, and it applies to every other weapons ban in history.

That example sorta applies in a different way here though. It'll just create an illegal market for these things to be shipped in to collectors, and then their kids will see something they can't have and idolize it, and more stupids will be stabbing each other. Whereas the example more directly deals with favorable combat weapons and shady smuggling to gangs and such, though they both deal with a ban on Katanas.

Thank the founding fathers that my right to bear "arms" deals with all types of arms. Sure, it's harder to get a fully automatic weapon than I'd like, but it's still possible, and no one's getting to my Xbox that I didn't allow in the first place.

Even if you were able to theoretically ban every tool designed as a weapon outright, there would be a lot more stoneings and fork stabbings going around.

[Gaius Decius Aquilius]

@ Matt: It seems katana prices are down now. From what I have been told, the katana ban is in part responsible for this drop, but also the housing crisis. So now is a good time to buy. I am giving a rough estimate of about a 20% drop on sword prices under $15,000 - $20,000. Anyone who can afford anything over that can afford anything they want anyway. I am, however, not a collector or even close to being katana "literate". So take this as an non-expert opinion.

... Sure, it's harder to get a fully automatic weapon than I'd like, but it's still possible, ...

For the edification of our European friends, and not to spark any gun debate. (Please no gun debate! I don't care one way or the other, and if I did I would not say anything anyway.) Full-auto weapons in the US are tightly licensed, and only available after a complicated licensing procedure and background check. They are not as readily available as some news sources would have you believe. I have seen a lot of confusion in the American press with "assault weapons" and machine guns. They are not one in the same. Civilian "assault rifles" are semi-automatic and legal in most states. The availability varies from state to state, depending on state laws, and Federal laws will always apply. The full auto AK-47s I mention earlier, refer to the drug cartels who have a reputation for not paying too much attention to anybody's law and are not legal in any case. They mostly don't operate on the US side of the border, but when they do, it is in areas where you can go 100km without seeing another human being.

R. Izard

[Magnus]

@ Matt: It seems katana prices are down now. From what I have been told, the katana ban is in part responsible for this drop, but also the housing crisis. So now is a good time to buy. I am giving a rough estimate of about a 20% drop on sword prices under $15,000 - $20,000. Anyone who can afford anything over that can afford anything they want anyway. I am, however, not a collector or even close to being katana "literate". So take this as an non-expert opinion.

R. Izard

Yeah...sad fact is the day I can spend that much on a sword is when I'm single again lol.

Even if I bought a decent blade for $1000 - $3000 the polish would still cost $100 per inch...plus fittings and all that. lol...

I'll have to stick with my chinatana for now. Although some of the US custom smiths are making nice blades.

I still want a true nihonto though...so much history and spirit in those blades.

I'll mull over your pm later...nice sword btw. You'll love kenjutsu...if it's a traditional ryu then it'll be 10X better than iaido or kendo. I found kenjutsu to be much more representational of the budo arts than kendo and iai. I wish I still had the time to pursue my JSA studies...there's a good katori shinto ryu dojo near me...but alas...lol.

[john m roberts]

I recently read that the #1 small-arms weapon of mass slaughter in the world is not the AK-47, the M-16, the handgun or any other firearm. It's the machete. In Africa, Latin America and tropical Asia this essential agricultural tool is used for hundreds of thousands if not millions of homicides per year. But since most of this happens in Third World countries that don't have any oil, it goes unnoticed by the outside world. Only when it is something as egregious as the Tutsi-Hutu ethnic cleansing in Rwanda a few years back (about which the First World did absolutely nothing) it goes unreported. I wonder how successful a machete ban would be?