The Highlander is Dead by Pat Conrad MD
We wonder at the ongoing loss of respect accorded doctors by a whiny, furtive public, and then this: “Leading Scots doctor in call to ban ‘killer’ kitchen knives.” That’s right girls and boys and undecided, Dr. John Crichton, the new chairman of the Royal College of Psychiatrists in Scotland, did a study. He looked at a whopping “260 mental health services users who had committed homicide.” of the 45 % who committed murder-by-knife, 85% used the pointy kitchen variety kind because, I guess, when you’re trying to prep haggis and your roommate won’t shut the hell up…
So a psychiatrist didn’t worry about the mental causes of violence so much as limiting access to those of us who have access to a kitchen. He is proposing legislation to switch to less lethal “R” blade knives. Crichton did not examine whether prospective patients might switch to less elegant cricket bats or spent whiskey bottles.
So we wonder why doctors continue to lose ground in the public eye? Maybe its because we can’t learn to mind our own damn business, and instead constantly hector and nag anyone for any reason, always attempting to use government as the collective strait-jacket. “This is a public health measure and public health measures are always about society deciding on a self-imposed restriction for the public good.” Any one going into medicine with this aspiration IS a public health threat to thinking individuals, and they deserve the contempt of the safety-scissors society they seek to build.
What about a cast-iron skillet? I mean I have one of those in my kitchen and one crack over the head with that thing would most likely send you to the morgue. I also have some twine in my kitchen that I could easily use to strangle someone. Extension cord, telephone cord, internet cable likewise (the HDMI cable is too expensive, wouldn’t use that). I have all sorts of stuff in my garage you could bludgeon someone with (hammer, shovel, water meter shut off thingy). Cripes, I could garrote you with my stethoscope!!! If I smacked you over the head with my otoscope I would probably knock you out. One forceful blow to the larynx with the the edge of my cell phone and you are done (and the Gorilla Glass in my phone would be intact since I will never buy an iPhone). There are potential murder weapons all around us.
I find it fascinating that the sales of the American baseball bat far exceeds that of ball and glove; and the bat is one of the top instruments of violence in Britain. When I meet a scoldy Brit going on about America’s affair with the gun, I suggest that any British customer seeking a bat should be required to have a background check and to explain the infield fly rule correctly. Join the safer bats movement, Dr. Crichton!
Just don’t take away the sguin dhu (small knife) the Highlanders wear in their kilt socks.
Can ye draw it in Highland garb withou’ flashin’ yrrr bum?
Indeed, Pat, they already have restrictions on regular kitchen knives in the UK. I believe there’s a minimum age to buy them and a few other limitations.
So, when we in the US say, “After you have eliminated our access to guns for self defense, for ‘public health’ reasons, you’ll come after our knives,” we’re not kidding.
We have gone partly down this road already, though, here in the US – Back when I was a kid in NYC, the only law regarding edged weapons was from Colonial times, and said that you couldn’t carry them concealed. Back then, many, many men carried buck knives in sheaths on their belts. Some of my classmates and I in high school carried swords in school (yes, swords – they bang against your leg when you walk), and nobody could say anything, because there was no rule against it. You were very unlikely to be mugged in the subway if you were carrying a sword.
Then, in the early eighties, they passed a new law, along with a law against drinking alcohol in public, and one raising the drinking age, and everything changed.
That being said, here in upstate NY, as well as in Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, and Montana, where I’ve lived, lots of guys (including me) carry clip-on knives in their pockets, which would make any British doctor have a coronary.