Although the number of fatal stabbings has mostly held steady over the past 10 years, headline-grabbing attacks and an overall rise in knife crime have stoked anxieties.

A familiar horror reached Pooja Kanda first on social media: There had been a sword attack in London. And then Kanda, who was home alone at the time, saw a detail she dreaded and knew all too well.

A man with a sword had killed a 14-year-old boy who was walking to school. Two years ago, her 16-year-old son, Ronan, was killed by two sword-wielding schoolmates while walking to a neighbor’s to borrow a PlayStation controller.

“It took me back,” Kanda, who lives near Birmingham, said about Daniel Anjorin’s April 30 killing in an attack in London’s Hainault district that also wounded four people. “It’s painful to see that this has happened all over again.”

In parts of the world that ban or strictly regulate gun ownership, including Britain and much of the rest of Europe, knives and other types of blades are often the weapons of choice used in crimes. Many end up in the hands of children, as they can be cheap and easy to get.

  • AbidanYre@lemmy.worldEnglish
    131·
    6 months ago

    The fun thing about the US is that the people opposed to dealing with the symptom are also usually opposed to dealing with the disease.

    • lennybird@lemmy.worldEnglish
      61·
      6 months ago

      Right? I’ve long said that Democrats should just pivot and say, “Okay you don’t want to work on getting guns out of the hands of criminals? Okay whatever. You agree part of this is a result of mental health? Okay, then let’s pass Universal healthcare with guaranteed access to therapy and more.”

      • Anyolduser@lemmynsfw.comEnglish
        34·
        6 months ago

        They’d have my vote, along with probably tens of millions of other independents.

        Honestly, gun control is the “poison pill” of the Democratic platform. They’ve got a ton of great ideas and policies but demand one of your civil rights in exchange. Even for people who aren’t into guns, the idea giving up any civil right is problematic to say the least.

        • lennybird@lemmy.worldEnglish
          42·
          6 months ago

          I’m fully on-board with a national gun ban and a complete change of the 2nd amendment, but I know we are also decades away from that realistically. Boomers and GenX will have to die off first. Can’t teach old dogs new tricks.

            • lennybird@lemmy.worldEnglish
              41·
              6 months ago

              Like I said I’m good with either direction. Pragmatic pivoting to root causes, addressing the hemorrhagic symptoms, or both.