Blades Banned In England. Rakes and Hoe's Future Uncertain

Little known fact of the day: The UK, where handguns are illegal, is being swept by a wave of bladed violence.

One Brian Seaton spent nine months and £10,000 trying to clear up the legal mess created when he was arrested for carrying a Swiss Army Knife in public, a knife he received as a retirement gift after 20 years as a police officer.

Startled by this heinous crime, the UK government is trying to ban the sale of swords. When swords are outlawed, only outlaws will have swords, making outlaws that much cooler.

They claim that there have been over 80 serious crimes involving swords in the last four years. I find this hard to believe. After all, it is illegal to carry a sword in the UK. It would seem to be very hard to commit a "serious" crime with a sword without carrying it. I suppose you could mount the sword to, say, the front of a car, but that seems more hilarious than serious.