I Spoke Too Soon

In the previous post, I said the following in response to the group of dipshit teenagers who held up a local 7-11 with a samurai sword.

Stay tuned for the impending cries for "common-sense" sharp and/or pointy object control legislation from our friends up on Beacon Hill.

I probably should have done my homework first.

Machetes cutting a wider swath of fear in U.S. communities

They have the heft of an ax, a blade nearly as long as a sword, and the intimidation power to make the hair stand up on the back of your neck.

Cheap and easily bought, machetes in America have commonly been reserved for underbrush and sugar-cane cutting. But now, in a spreading trend that so far has drawn little national attention, criminals are using machetes as weapons, striking fear in cities and towns across the country.

[snip]

That was the case as well in the Boston area, where a rise in gang violence involving machetes occurred in the past several years. The surrounding towns of Revere, Everett, Lynn and Chelsea have banned machetes, and there is now a bill before the Massachusetts Senate that would prohibit the carrying, sale and manufacture of the tool-turned-weapon.

Golly gee, what better way to deter CRIMINALS from using a potentially dangerous object in a violent and illegal manner than to ban that object's possession by NON-CRIMINALS.

Fucking morons.

These idiots honestly believe that an individual intent on hacking someone to death with a machete (an illegal activity, last I checked) will suddenly develop a new-found respect for law and order when told that owning a machete is against the law.

"Stuck on stupid" is an understatement.

So, what's next on your agenda, Senator Jarrett "Everything I Need to Know About Firearms I Learned By Watching A-Team Re-runs" Barrios? Will you be drafting legislation to prohibit the carrying, sale, and manufacture of all "sporting goods-turned-weapons" in the Commonwealth?


What about all those deadly "kitchen utensils-turned-weapons"?


Oops...can't forget the "building materials-turned-weapons".


And, don't even get me started on the number of "personal transportation devices-turned-weapons" flooding our streets today.



(link via Say Uncle)

UPDATE: Yosemite Sam from The Ten Ring sends along the link to Senate Bill 1384.

Any individual who requires a machete for the purposes of cutting vegetation shall register the machete with the local police department on an annual basis and, upon payment of an appropriate annual registration fee as determined by the local granting authority, shall be issued a permit authorizing him to possess the machete solely for the purposes of cutting vegetation.

This will have the members of the MS-13 street gang shaking in their fucking shoes for sure.