Should knife sales be licensed?
As BLADE reported earlier this month, the Boston city council conducted hearings to weigh whether knife sales should be licensed within the municipality. As with alcohol and firearms, a license from the city would be required before a retailer - or anyone - could sell a knife.
Enforcement would be up to the police, who would monitor Boston businesses for licensure. As such, the argument for the new license is that it would make Boston safer.
BLADE, along with many knife advocacy groups, opposes such a measure. Existing laws already prohibit knives from being used in criminal activity. Adding this measure on top of those laws is redundant and unnecessary. There is no evidence to believe knife violence will decline if sales are licensed. Just look to alcohol for a prime example. It brings to question whether this is truly about safety or revenue for the city.
Do you agree or disagree with BLADE's position? Is there merit to licensure?
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Knife Guy 900 on -
I can see how this makes sense. I wonder if they would automatically give FFL holders the license.
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Permalink Reply by Collector1 on
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I smell a troll. "Knife Guy 900?" What rock in D.A. Cyrus Vance's office did you crawl out from under?
Licensure doesn't make any sense. Who is going to get registered for the license? The honest retailer or the crack head on the corner? And which one of those is going to stab someone?
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Permalink Reply by Knife Guy 900 on
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No, this is Boston. Cyrus Vance is the district attorney for Manhatten.
If retailers are licensed, they wouldn't sell knives to crack heads!
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Permalink Reply by Collector1 on
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Says who? A license is a piece of paper. It's not going to jump off the wall and put hand cuffs on the retailer who sells to a crack head. Besides, it's not the retailer's fault if the knife is used in a crime.
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Permalink Reply by Knife Guy 900 on
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So you're saying retailers are selling knives to bad guys? And that it's not their fault? Licensure will at least provide some measure of protection. It's better than nothing.
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Permalink Reply by Collector1 on
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Actually, it's worse than nothing.
You're not thinking about most knife retailers. Most knives sold are for the kitchen. Do you want a huge runaround when you go to Wal-Mart for a chef's knife? Or do you want to buy what you want because you're not a crook?
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Permalink Reply by Knife Guy 900 on
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You keep bringing up crooks and crack heads. I agree, they shouldn't have access to weapons. So maybe a middle ground is that we do background checks before you can buy a knife. Kind of like a gun.
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Permalink Reply by Collector1 on
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Background checks!?
Do you really want to wait 48 hours before you can slice up an apple? Or open packaging?
The bottom line is this: Crooks will be crooks no matter what laws you pass. These kinds of regulations only hurt honest people, who are supposed to be the ones made safer in the first place.
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Permalink Reply by Knife Guy 900 on
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What I'm saying is, maybe if you're a felon you shouldn't be able to buy a knife without some sort of screening. If they want to buy a fruit knife, sure. But if they want a nasty OTF, they'd get denied because the background check caught them.
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Permalink Reply by Timothy Mike Copeland on
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Where does gov. licenses stop. I guess when you buy silverware for the house you will have to be licenses before we can purchase the knives.
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Permalink Reply by Collector1 on
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Knife Guy, most knife crimes ARE committed with kitchen knives.
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Permalink Reply by John C. Vitale on -
Hello Everyone,
NO!!!!
We do not need any additional legislation. Stores that sell knives are already licensed by the City of Boston, for which they pay a fee and are subject to city oversight as to their compliance with the law, and that there is already an ordinance on the books that makes it illegal to sell a knife with a blade two inches or longer to anyone under age 18. Why spend time and tax dollars on this issue? We have much more important :issues to address in our city such as our public school system. I repeat: there is no need for new regulation; the City of Boston already has regulations to address this issue. May I suggest doubling the fine for selling knives to persons under 18 years of age. This alone will be a much more effective means in controlling the sale of knives to minors.
John
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