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Steve Fabert
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 Posted: Wed 07 Apr, 2004 5:54 pm Post subject: Re: Self-revelation |
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| Bob Uhl wrote: | | If folks see a bunch of serious, respectable fellow citizens with a safe & interesting hobby, then I can imagine that they'll be cool with it. But there are always the Concerned Busybodies of America to worry about, nonetheless |
There will not only be busybodies, there will be lowlifes and psychos who use swords to attack people. And then there will be people who are legitimately outraged by these attacks. Use your favorite internet search engine to find "sword attack" and you will see that this sort of event occurs somewhere in the world at least once a month. Victims of these attacks and their friends and family make a pretty strong political lobby.
The risk of serious restrictions on sword ownership is comparatively lower in the USA because antisocial people have a greater fascination with firearms here. Most of the sword attacks are occuring in countries where gun ownership is comparatively rare, so swords are used instead. I see quite a few people on this forum who collect swords while residing in places where I know they are extremely unlikely to be allowed to own a gun.
If widespread knowledge of the availability of swords by mail order results in more criminals and nuts obtaining and using swords, you can hardly expect everyone else to shrug their shoulders and ignore it. We live in an increasingly regulated world - it's easier to issue orders to people who obey the law than it is to deal directly with our nutcases. So if you live in a political subdivision where your local paranoid psycho chooses to order a sword from your favorite maker before going on a killing spree, plan to see demands for regulation of sword ownership.
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Joel Whitmore
Location: Simmesport, LA Joined: 25 Aug 2003
Posts: 342
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| Posted: Thu 08 Apr, 2004 5:56 am Post subject: We are an overracting crowd aren't we |
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Cases of people committing murder with swrods HAS already occurred several times here in the US over the pastg several years. When I could still stomach SFI, every time an incident would occur, huge threads woudl erupt which decried the end of owning swords and another prediction of an Orwellian future would flood the net. It has not happened. Thankfully, there are more people with common sense than we would like to give credit, or so it would seem. There has been much talk about this community's appearance to people who are not involved in it. Frankly, people who try to hide and look seceretive a out what they do scare me more than those who are out in the open. Perhaps, this is a "non-European" view I have, but so be it. It strikes me as being slightly oxymoronic that people who gather on here to learn and share about swords do not want others to have the same opportunity. The downside of education has been severely overblown.
Joel
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Alexi Goranov
myArmoury Alumni
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| Posted: Thu 08 Apr, 2004 7:52 am Post subject: Re: We are an overracting crowd aren't we |
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| Joel Whitmore wrote: | Cases of people committing murder with swrods HAS already occurred several times here in the US over the pastg several years. When I could still stomach SFI, every time an incident would occur, huge threads woudl erupt which decried the end of owning swords and another prediction of an Orwellian future would flood the net. It has not happened. Thankfully, there are more people with common sense than we would like to give credit, or so it would seem. There has been much talk about this community's appearance to people who are not involved in it. Frankly, people who try to hide and look seceretive a out what they do scare me more than those who are out in the open. Perhaps, this is a "non-European" view I have, but so be it. It strikes me as being slightly oxymoronic that people who gather on here to learn and share about swords do not want others to have the same opportunity. The downside of education has been severely overblown.
Joel |
I think it is time that we set few parameters. As I read Joel's post and Steve's post I agree with both, even though they seem to express opposite views. I think this seeming opposition stems from the fact that we are speaking of educating and informing other people, without defining either how we are going to approach this, or who exactly are we targeting as audience. Should we be pro-active, or should we simply act as guides for those that approach us? Both of these approaches may be valid under different circumstances.
In its essence the problem has not changed, but being more specific about the aims being set helps for a more productive conversation. For example: This thread started with the idea of being pro-active, and somewhere along the line we assumed that that means shouting from the roof top. People quickly took the opposite direction and suggested that we should be careful in how vocal we are about our hobby, and this was rashly interpreted as living in secrecy and not talking or sharing information regarding our hobby.
The bottom line: I thing that almost everybody would agree that the two extremes are not useful. I think we could be pro-active when dealing with specialized groups, and we should avoid "shouting from the roof". Shoving your expertise in somebody's nose is as useless as withholding info from someone with genuine interest.
In other words, we should exercise some care, and put some THOUGHT into what we are saying, who we are saying it to, and how much do they care to hear it.
My 2cents about it.
Alexi
Last edited by Alexi Goranov on Thu 08 Apr, 2004 8:14 am; edited 1 time in total
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Kenneth Enroth
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| Posted: Thu 08 Apr, 2004 8:00 am Post subject: |
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In my country if someone got murdered with a sword the media or politicians would not start clamoring for a sword ban. They would blame the lack of funding for psychiatric care. They would blame society for not having a large enough safety net to catch these people in before they commit such acts.
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Joel Whitmore
Location: Simmesport, LA Joined: 25 Aug 2003
Posts: 342
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| Posted: Thu 08 Apr, 2004 9:37 am Post subject: Re: We are an overracting crowd aren't we |
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| Alexi Goranov wrote: | | Joel Whitmore wrote: | Cases of people committing murder with swrods HAS already occurred several times here in the US over the pastg several years. When I could still stomach SFI, every time an incident would occur, huge threads woudl erupt which decried the end of owning swords and another prediction of an Orwellian future would flood the net. It has not happened. Thankfully, there are more people with common sense than we would like to give credit, or so it would seem. There has been much talk about this community's appearance to people who are not involved in it. Frankly, people who try to hide and look seceretive a out what they do scare me more than those who are out in the open. Perhaps, this is a "non-European" view I have, but so be it. It strikes me as being slightly oxymoronic that people who gather on here to learn and share about swords do not want others to have the same opportunity. The downside of education has been severely overblown.
Joel |
I think it is time that we set few parameters. As I read Joel's post and Steve's post I agree with both, even though they seem to express opposite views. I think this seeming opposition stems from the fact that we are speaking of educating and informing other people, without defining either how we are going to approach this, or who exactly are we targeting as audience. Should we be pro-active, or should we simply act as guides for those that approach us? Both of these approaches may be valid under different circumstances.
In its essence the problem has not changed, but being more specific about the aims being set helps for a more productive conversation. For example: This thread started with the idea of being pro-active, and somewhere along the line we assumed that that means shouting from the roof top. People quickly took the opposite direction and suggested that we should be careful in how vocal we are about our hobby, and this was rashly interpreted as living in secrecy and not talking or sharing information regarding our hobby.
The bottom line: I thing that almost everybody would agree that the two extremes are not useful. I think we could be pro-active when dealing with specialized groups, and we should avoid "shouting from the roof". Shoving your expertise in somebody's nose is as useless as withholding info from someone with genuine interest.
In other words, we should exercise some care, and put some THOUGHT into what we are saying, who we are saying it to, and how much do they care to hear it.
My 2cents about it.
Alexi |
I ca't argue with that Alexi. In any given profession, hobby or activity there will be those who don't necessarily represent it in ways everyone would like. I believe Alexi to be very correct in saying that this thread has drifted into extremes. From educating people an ddispelling the myriad of myths surrounding swords to beheadings by the criminally insane. Perhaps we should refocus or let this thread go. I do think that everyone who contributed to this topic has made valid points though I obviously don't agree with all of them. Zeal can go wrong on both directions I suppose. I love swords and the heritage surrounding them. While I don't advocate walking out to a street corner and putting on cutting demonstrations, I don't think we have need to "hide" our love. As we have seen over the past seven years or so, there are plenty of people who are interested in swords and swordsmanship who find us. I don't feel it is anyone's responsibillity to teach people about swords, but I think it can be beneficial to those interested. I have learned so much from forums like these and met many people , most more knowledgable than I, that I would otherwise never have. I am eternally grateful they have not been afraid to share their interest and learning with me and others.
Joel
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