Monday, March 28, 2016

Sheep to the slaughter?


Last week I put up a post titled 'A Nation of Sheep - Belgium Edition'.  I pointed out that writing messages in chalk on the sidewalk in support of those killed by terrorists would do absolutely nothing to stop further terrorist attacks.

It seems to me we should call New York a city of sheep as well.

New York City has seen a 20 percent increase in stabbings this year compared with last, and police say they don’t understand why it’s happening or what to do about it.

While most of the attacks are part of domestic disputes in homes, random assaults without apparent motives are on the rise. As of March 13, police recorded 809 incidents, up from 673 last year.

. . .

The stabbings may be symptomatic of a breakdown in civility in areas of the city where police have scaled down their enforcement of minor offenses, said Heather MacDonald, a research fellow specializing in crime at the Manhattan Institute, a policy research organization that has been critical of Mayor Bill de Blasio’s initiatives to reduce police stop-and-frisk tactics in minority neighborhoods.

“The same strategies aimed at getting guns off the streets, including stop-and-frisk, should apply to knives,” she said. “The public feels like the streets are getting out of control, and it’s hard to talk to anyone in the city who doesn’t feel there’s been an increase in street homelessness, litter and a general sense of order breaking down.”

There's more at the link.

New York City has some of the harshest restrictions on the right to own and/or carry a handgun of any city or state in the USA . . . yet the authorities haven't made the connection between that and the relative impunity that knife-wielding attackers apparently feel there.  Let's face it;  if you're a criminal and you know the odds are that any victim you select may be well enough armed to not only stop you, but kill you, you're going to be a whole lot more circumspect about your activities!  These stabbings aren't happening in cities where citizens are allowed to carry weapons in their own defense.  If anyone tried it in northern Texas, where I now live (or, for that matter, in Nashville, where I lived until January this year), they'd be shot sooner rather than later, and they know it:  so they don't do it.  Not so New York City.

As the late, great Jeff Cooper once said in another context:

The proper solution to armed robbery is a dead robber, on the scene.

I daresay he'd have agreed that the solution to random knife attacks is very similar.

Peter

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

Any connection between the knife attackers and their religion...."cough-cough" (muslime)
Steve

Gorges Smythe said...

If I lived in New York and didn't have a gun, I'd be carrying as big a knife as I could conceal.

Anonymous said...

Always carry a blade one of humanity's first and most useful tools teeth and toenails just doesn't cut it.

Will said...

Gorges Smythe:

NYFC has some very strict knife laws. Essentially, in practice, none are legal to carry.

Anonymous said...

Indeed, and how's that working out for you?

JackCrow

Jim said...

No surprise here. If access to firearms is successfully curtailed, something that's in doubt anyway, thugs will turn to the blade. I understand London has a problem with them as well, and then, of course, are the mass slashings in China. The "wisdom" in some circles is to blame the gun for homicides, as if they wouldn't happen without them. I recall reading that the homicide rate in 15th century Amsterdam was in the neighborhood of 50 per 100,000. I doubt there were many firearms in private hands at that time.

Judy said...

We are a violent species. Any tool can be used to harm and/or kill someone. This includes hands, feet and any other body part that can be used to deliver a blow/wound. The only way to keep the other members of this species from preying on the young, old or helpless is for the rest to be armed with equalizers.

freddie_mac said...

I don't dispute the correlation btw gun restrictions & knives, but (as someone who lives in the area), this is the important part:

The stabbings may be symptomatic of a breakdown in civility in areas of the city where police have scaled down their enforcement of minor offenses ... Mayor Bill de Blasio’s initiatives to reduce police stop-and-frisk tactics in minority neighborhoods.

de Blasio is doing his best to recreate the Dinkins era by eradicating all traces of Guliani's achievements, and then he wonders why quality of life is on the fast track down.

Laugh all you want about the Disneyification of Times Square, but cleaning up the city brought $$$ from tourists, people moving here because they can enjoy the city's amenities without taking their lives in their hands, etc. de Blasio's changes will lead to an increased exodus of taxpayers and $$$ from tourists will drop to $ or less.

However, like all good liberals/socialists, de Blasio won't make the connection btw his actions and the inevitable results. Soon, NYC will return to the old "ungovernable" reputation.

Anonymous said...

When knives are outlawed, only outlaws will carry sharpened screwdrivers.

Antibubba