Friday, January 07, 2005

Save Our Swords Petition

There is a proposal before the Scottish parliament to outlaw the sale of swords in Scotland and carrying of swords in public places. This is a bit of political grandstanding from the 'something must be done' school, and is a massive overreaction to the violence of the knife culture in much the same way that the legislation banning all handguns was rushed through in the wake of the Dunblane massacre. If it goes through in Scotland, then Westminster will not be far behind.

If you have read any of my blog posts about fencing then you will know how passionate I am about this sport. It is the quintessential martial art - the perfect balance of physicality and mental rigour, to outwit your opponent and win the day. There is nothing else quite like it.

Please go and sign the Save Our Swords Petition.

Thank you.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I don't know where they get the idea people are running around with swords in the streets. Of course, there's that nutter with the samurai a few years ago but it's certainly not an epidemic. Save our swords !

Pam - http://www.geocities.com/ellenlang

Mr Peacock said...

neil.

A good pertition.. will def sign! My best bud does fencing and Capoeira. I keep hinting he should try and merge the two. I suspect there would be some scrapes.. but I'd pay big bucks for seeing someone do them both at once. :^)