Maine legalizes switchblades for one armed people

[CptStern]

Maine lawmakers on Wednesday approved legalizing switchblades for people with one arm, moving close to becoming the first state to make such an exception to laws that ban use of the spring-action knives.

Backers of the measure say legalizing switchblades would eliminate a need for one-armed people to be forced to open folding knives with their teeth in emergencies.

so this happens enough times, where a one armed person is facing an assailant with a pocket knife, that it poses a problem? I guess cocking a gun with your forehead would be too much trouble they'd reach for their switchblade?

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/42458722/ns/us_news/?ocid=twitter

anyways I gotta hand it to them; on the one hand this seems like a good idea but on the other hand ..oh wait there's no other hand; how handy!

 

[Viperidae]

But won't this increase the violent crime rate among one-armed people?

 

[CptStern]

ya but decrease the violent murder rate for one armed people

 

[NeptuneUK]

Thread needs more puns.

 

[Mr. Djees]

But won't this increase the violent crime rate among one-armed people?

Are you saying the will be more...

Spoiler

One-armed bandits?

 

[<RJMC>]

well those people will be now....armed

 

[Unfocused]

Why are switchblades illegal in the first place; how are they more dangerous than knives in other forms?

 

[The Monkey]

Seems handy enough, can someone give me a hand as to why it's controversial?

 

[PvtRyan]

I'm not sure why anyone in the US would settle for having only one arm when in the US you have the right to bear arms.

 

[Vegeta897]

The only scary thing about a one armed man trying to defend himself is the fact that he feels his one arm is good for nothing but trying to defend himself!

 

[Krynn72]

This is a great idea. Maine is covered with areas where people can get their arms trapped by a boulder. This way they always have a knife to cut their arm of using their one arm. Two armed people always have an advantage in this situation, since they can just push the boulder off with their fancy second arm, this just levels the playing field.

 

[CptStern]

This way they always have a knife to cut their arm of using their one arm..

? I'm trying to picture how someone would cut off their trapped arm with their trapped arm

 

[Krynn72]

With their hand, duh.

 

[CptStern]

but part of the arm is trapped by the boulder; at best you'd only slash your wrist. which has an undesirable effect on your life. it's probably not gonna happen unless you can somehow flip the knife with your hand into your mouth and then saw just below the shoulder. we'd call you Stumpy

 

[Acepilotf14]

Now I can fulfill my dream to be a one-armed assassin.

 

[Maestro]

Psssh. If you were a true one-arm assassin you'd use a butterfly.

 

[Mogi67]

Why are switchblades illegal in the first place; how are they more dangerous than knives in other forms?

I imagine it's because they're easily concealed. Mostly they were banned because of the way they were depicted by the media, and parents panicking as a result. Kind of like how marijuana was made illegal under false pretenses.

 

[Dan]

They are illegal because the only purpose of a switch blade is to use it to cause harm in a fight or for intimidation, much like automatic weapons grenades, rocket launchers and other banned human killing weapons. For regular knife use use, you don't need a spring loaded blade to pop out... unless you only have one arm.

 

[Krynn72]

you don't need a spring loaded blade to pop out... unless you only have one arm.

Why would someone with one arm need one? Flip out knives are designed to be used with just one hand. Also theres knives that just have sheaths, no flipping or springing actions needed for those.

 

[Viperidae]

They are illegal because the only purpose of a switch blade is to use it to cause harm in a fight or for intimidation, much like automatic weapons grenades, rocket launchers and other banned human killing weapons. For regular knife use use, you don't need a spring loaded blade to pop out... unless you only have one arm.

Logic: flawed. Regular knives are just as easy to deploy/conceal as gravity blades. Mogi's right: it's all about the scariness factor.

 

[Unfocused]

Are butterfly knives illegal in the US too?

I mean, if switchblades are scary, people might shit their pants seeing a butterfly knife being deployed.

 

[Acepilotf14]

Are butterfly knives illegal in the US too?

I mean, if switchblades are scary, people might shit their pants seeing a butterfly knife being deployed.

Yeah, I don't really get why when we parade around with guns which are even more deadly, and from a distance.

 

[Mr Stabby]

I think switchblades were originally banned because of their popularity among gangsters, rather than their actually lethality.

 

[Unfocused]

Let's ban gangsterism!

 

[Acepilotf14]

Gangsters like guns too.

 

[No Limit]

People with disabilites shouldn't be made fun of, so this issue should be handled carefully.