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« Justice Kennedy on Heller and 14th Amendment | Main | Judge Posner's criticism of Heller »

Summing up the British experience

Posted by David Hardy · 13 August 2008 09:46 AM

For self-defense, a fellow in Scotland was reduced to carrying, under the seat of his car, a gobstopper (a very law jawbreaker type candy) in a sock.

The story comes to light after he was fined 400 pounds for carrying the weapon.

"Sheriff Kenneth McIver told him that, even though it was not in the same category as a knife or axe, it was capable of inflicting a nasty injury.

"You will be aware of the ongoing national debate on offensive weapons including knives," he told Harvey.

"But all too often this court has to consider other improvised weapons like this." "

· non-US

23 Comments

Travis | August 13, 2008 10:22 AM

Why didn't I think of that?

JT | August 13, 2008 10:48 AM

...
blink blink
...

Speechless.

Anonymous | August 13, 2008 10:57 AM

It's getting closer to the Monty Python skit that rattles on about "pointy sticks". The absurd approaches reality. Or is it the other way around?

Eagle 1

Andy Freeman | August 13, 2008 10:59 AM

I understand that newspapers can be fashioned into weapons.

And umbrellas - you can put an eye out.

And, at least one person has figured out how to use a cotton ball as a weapon.

So, what is left?

dagamroe | August 13, 2008 10:59 AM

when did knifes become offensive weapons?

Jim D. | August 13, 2008 11:21 AM

First, you have to wonder what will happen after the next generation of British serfs become as skilled in martial arts as the Okinawans became under Japanese rule.

Second, there is a belief underlying many 'patriot' posts that libertarian freedoms will arise phoenix-like from the decay after leftist-imposed policies lead to a failed society.

Instead, in places like Great Britain, Detroit and every other decrepit U.S. city, we see a carefully managed stasis between authoritarian, parasitic overlords and their subjects. The parasitic class is careful to maintain the host at a minimum life so that it can suck wealth and power from it.

This stasis can go on indefinitely. The Romans nurtured it for hundreds of years, the Chinese for thousands, the Russians maintain a parasitic symbiosis to this day. On our own borders, Mexico and Cuba are doing the same thing and blaming the U.S. for it.

If we can't stop it now, we are dooming our own future generations to the same fate as the British, perhaps for millennia.

The idea that it will be a quick, efficient dark age is a false hope.

Chuck | August 13, 2008 11:22 AM

Dagamroe,

Knifes became offensive weapons the day they banned guns.

Chuck

Tom | August 13, 2008 11:39 AM

If you outlaw gobstoppers, only criminals will have gobstoppers.

Andy Horning | August 13, 2008 11:59 AM

Some of you are wielding some very dangerous words. Be warned. This will not be tolerated.
http://wedeclare.wordpress.com/

ATL | August 13, 2008 12:05 PM

The Brits also have this listed as dangerous weapons:

Salami
Stewing pot lids
Spatulas
Hello Kitty backpacks (choking hazards)
Ping Pong paddles
Zucchini

Man, the lengths a government goes to disarm its citizens.

Imagine an Obama presidency!

robin | August 13, 2008 12:06 PM

One man's rock is the sheriff's offensive weapon.

For the safety of the children, keep your socks unloaded until you need them.

Unfortunately for the Brits, they long ago crossed the line into the area where the police can arrest you for [insert reason here]. Or are we supposed to believe they actually have a law that says "You can't put a large piece of candy in a sock". Guess its a good thing that only in the US does Santa Claus fill stockings with goodies. Otherwise he might be arrested and fined for weapons violations.

rio arriba | August 13, 2008 12:25 PM

There is a legal charge that can be levied against writers (in Ireland at least, probably in UK too): "inciting to hatred."

Could I charge the writer of that piece under that law, because something very like hatred is my presiding emotion right now?

MichaelG | August 13, 2008 12:44 PM

In other news, the scottish courts will be packed on Nov 1st with cases of children charged with possesion of weapons of mass destruction the night before.
Somebody better warn Ted Nugent not to take his pool ball in a sock if he travels to Scotland.
The good news: thx to Heller an entire class of defensive weapons such as candy in socks cannot be banned by the Feds in the US. In other news congressional Democrats are considering requiring a tax stamp to possess and a special license to sell large round candy if it can be easily modified to become a fully automatic weapon. PEZ dispensers manufacture before this date will have to registered in a database (mis)managed by BATFE.
:)

doug in Colorado | August 13, 2008 12:58 PM

The mind is the weapon...whatever is at hand is merely the tool of defense.

When they outlaw ballpoint pens, glass bottles, ceramic coffee mugs, staplers and rat-tailed hair combs we'll still have shoes with heels (heavy or pointy), belts with metal buckles, shoelaces for garroting,...

...a stone (or a gobstopper) in a stocking is not an O-ffensive weapon, it's a DE-fensive weapon. So is a roll of quarters,

Mack | August 13, 2008 1:28 PM

They can have my gobstopper when they pry it from my cold dead jaw.

Melancton Smith | August 13, 2008 1:31 PM

Laugh at them all you want, but don't look to carefully at what goes on in our own cities.

Were I to walk down the street in Chicago with a gobstopper in a sock I could be arrested for carrying a dangerous weapon. What is a dangerous weapon depends upon the intent of the carrier.

You can have a ball, glove, and bat in your car if you are going to play softball, but if you just have the bat, you can be arrested.

Now a jury'd have to convict...

Flash Gordon | August 13, 2008 1:33 PM

I can hardly believe that some many people who probably appear to have normal intelligence is other matters can be such idiots when it comes to the basic principle that one has the right to defend himself from unprovoked aggression.

robin | August 13, 2008 2:19 PM

Thanks Melancton for pointing out the danger of carrying just a ball bat ;-) Always carry a bat, ball and glove, check. You can then put the ball into a sock, thus giving yourself 2 weapons. You can use the glove to defend yourself against the other guys gobstopper-in-sock while wielding your bat in your free hand (tuck the sock into your belt as a backup).

Apparently in Chicago the police have been trained in the art of mind reading. Thus they are able to discern intent and don't have to wait for you to ACTUALLY do anything. BTW, do you guys have a lot of arrests for intent to commit rape (or intent to solicit) there or has all crime been suppressed?

Carl in Chicago | August 13, 2008 3:01 PM

Even Michael Moore in his book "Dirty White Man" lambasts the UK for not protecting individual rights in their constitution. He waxes eloquently about the all-important right to speech and blither ... but being Moore, he completely ignores the right to arms. Well, other than that chapter about "Why you should not own a handgun."

Anyway, if even whankers like Moore can appreciate and value some rights, what the hell's going on in the UK?

And may it NEVER happen here.

Micheal | August 13, 2008 4:57 PM

The zoo is officially be run by the animals.

ken | August 13, 2008 7:10 PM

when the time comes that americans have to have a sock full of jaw breakers for self defence its over for american. to say we can not defend ourselves from attack is madness. it looks like a lot of liberals will pay dearly when that time comes. my advice is when the shooting starts get your asses down on the floor and don't ask to borrow one of my guns you ass holes........kl

LSC | August 14, 2008 7:05 AM

How long until all martial arts training is outlawed in Britain?

RONALD GARANT | October 25, 2008 3:05 PM

IT IS BETTER TO BE JUDGED BY TWELVE THEN CARRIED BY SIX.