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| Tacoma to outlaw spiked ball flails. Problem in Tacoma? |
| 2006-07-20 |
| Butterfly knives, stun guns and spiked ball flails would be banned from Tacoma stores under an ordinance the City Council is considering. Samurai swords, daggers and hatchets would not. That’s the compromise officials made after struggling for more than a year to figure out how to stop the sale of some weapons without also banning the sale of kitchen knives. The issue arose out of neighborhood complaints about convenience stores selling swords, daggers and other weapons. Assistant City Attorney Jon Walker said officials couldn’t ban the sale of swords because they couldn’t adequately define them. A butterfly knife is easy to define, he said. A sword is much more difficult to define, at least in terms of the law. On paper, a bread knife and a small sword sound pretty similar. “There may be someone smarter than me who could come up with a definition, but we needed something that would hold up in front of a jury,” Walker said. Council members heard the first reading of the ordinance Tuesday night. They’re expected to vote on it next week. The proposed ordinance expands the list of knives and weapons that stores are banned from selling to include slingshots, fighting knives, some martial arts weapons and electroshock devices such as Tasers. Fighting knives include knives with multiple blades, knives disguised as a pen or a cane and knives that automatically open when pulled from a sheath. Stores could continue to sell swords, daggers and other kinds of knives. However, the existing ordinance already limited how people could carry them. Individuals are prohibited from carrying dangerous knives or deadly weapons on their person or in their vehicle unless the item is secured in some kind of container, such as a wrapper or a toolbox, and is being carried to a repair shop, from a person’s home to their place of business or from one house to another if the person is moving. A dangerous knife is defined as having a blade more than 31/2 inches or any dagger, sword, bayonet, bolo knife, hatchet, straight-edge razor or razor blade not in its package or “shaving appliance.” A deadly weapon is defined as an instrument capable of being used offensively or defensively and likely to cause death or serious bodily harm. The proposed ordinance would add exemptions for law enforcement officers, animal control officers, military officers and scuba divers. Licensed hunters, boaters and anglers were already exempt while hunting, camping or fishing. Walker said there are stores currently selling items that would be prohibited under the new ordinance. He’s hoping for voluntary compliance with the new rules. |
| Posted by:Anonymoose |
| #8 Banning KBar? Lets see them take one from a Marine. |
| Posted by: Oldspook 2006-07-20 23:36 |
| #7 Good gawd, is there nothing else the "do-gooders" in Tacoma have to worry about? Exactly how many people have been harmed by one of these weapons right after it was bought at a convenience store? Duh, just the fact that a freakin' convenince store is selling them says it should be safe....someone could just buy one, then turn right around and hold the place up to "get his money back + interest." And, they're taking away slingshots? When's the last time you've heard someone being killed by a slingshot (David & Goliath not included)? That's an all-american boy's dream as a lil' tike...to have a slingshot and now the "safety police" are takin' that away too? Almost makes me thankful to be living next door (not in) to Cynthia McKinney's district, lol! |
| Posted by: BA 2006-07-20 20:57 |
| #6 How about Renn Faires? Ever take a look at some of the weaponry on parade at one? Think Scots and orcs. |
| Posted by: xbalanke 2006-07-20 20:35 |
| #5 So Chuck that means no Viagra for Tacoma? |
| Posted by: Gloling Jeque6486 2006-07-20 20:16 |
| #4 You are no longer permitted to flail about in Tacoma. |
| Posted by: Chuck Simmins 2006-07-20 20:04 |
| #3 Long, long ago Jarhead spoke of preparing for hijack attempts on any airplane flight he took, as filling a sock with the coins from his pocket to create a cosh, tying his shoelaces together to create a garrotte (spelling?), having a ballpoint pen, and always holding on to his bread rolls from the meal. Of course, he *is* a licenced professional... |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2006-07-20 19:46 |
| #2 A deadly weapon is defined as an instrument capable of being used offensively or defensively and likely to cause death or serious bodily harm. Cain slew Abel. The event has been depicted as with a rock or a stick or the jaw bone of an ass. I have never set foot on left coast soil for several very good reasons. Dumbness is the primary one. |
| Posted by: mag44_vaquero 2006-07-20 19:20 |
| #1 Geez louise what a bunch of cowardly tyrants they're growing in the NW. What about my 10" chef's knife? How about the meat cleavers? I'm not a "licensed" chef you gonna raid my house like that two bit Hitler in Illinois? What about my paint scraper that uses a single edge razor blade? These despicable lunatics should be set out on a raft to drift in the Pacific surrounded by buckets of chum. |
| Posted by: AlanC 2006-07-20 19:11 |