Scotland: Not anti Gun, not anti knife, but anti freedom

From Soft Green Glow (via Tam). Scotland's utter descent to madness:

Anyone caught carrying a knife in town and city centres in Scotland in the coming weeks faces a potential four years in prison, under a new crackdown announced today.

The six-week pilot scheme will see cases automatically prosecuted as more serious offences, increasing the length of jail terms available to sheriffs from one year to four.

...

Scotland’s top law officer, Lord Advocate Frank Mulholland, QC, said the pilot would involve a zero-tolerance approach to the problem. He said: “The public will wish to enjoy the festive period in our towns and cities without fear. The zero-tolerance crackdown should help to deter anyone stupid enough to think about carrying a knife.

Ah yes, live without fear. Because the criminals will surely fall in line if there's just one more law.

And it's not like the public will live in fear of the police. As Phil notes:

What if you buy a knife for someone for Christmas? How do you get it to the car? And what about scissors? You know, for wrapping gifts. What if you need a new pair?

A gun is a tool, so is a knife. And you'll be more likely to use a knife in every day use. Here's something Tam wrote a few days ago that seems prophetic.

Some people get all clutch-the-pearls at the sight of a knife, which strikes me as utterly bizarre. How come H. habilis could see the utility of keeping a sharp rock handy, but the concept seems to elude H. cubiculum? Hardly a day goes by that my pocket knife doesn't see use: opening letters, opening packages, breaking down boxes, trimming loose threads on clothing...

And now Scotland wants to ban basic, basic tools. How's that for "enlightened" for you. Maybe next they'll ban possession of matches and lighters in order to prevent arson and "fire-crime".

Oh yes, there's the beloved "zero-tolerance". Now where have we seen zero-tolerance policies before? Policies where people are convicted on ridiculous charges (like having a cake-knife for *gasp* cake) or for drawing (that is making a picture) of a gun?

Edited: Or a piece of pizza shaped as a gun. Yeah, nice to see Scotland treating its subjects like children.

That's right. Schools.

As we see in Scotland, the antis think of the general population as children. Children that need to be told what to do.