Knife Amnesty in the UK

From the BBC:

Machetes, meat cleavers and axes as well as knives were among the haul of 17,715 surrendered to the 43 police forces across England and Wales.

...

Mr Coaker urged those who had not yet handed in their weapons to do so.

"The initial figures for the first week of that campaign are very encouraging, " he said.

"That is 17,715 fewer weapons that can be used in a crime against ordinary, law-abiding citizens.

"If you carry a knife out of self-defense, you run the risk of having it turned on you. Carrying a knife is illegal and will not be tolerated. It could land you four years in prison"

...

Police say that from 1 July tough action will be taken on those found armed with knives.

However, some families of victims of knife crime have questioned the effectiveness of an amnesty, calling instead for tougher sentencing.

I know the weapon bans have been going on for quite some time, but every time I read about them I still get angry. These pompous and officious fools have no moral right to tell people they should remain as helpless as possible in order to maintain public safety. This crap about "carry a knife out of self-defense and run the risk of having it turned on you" is not justification for disarming people. Sure, some fools might think that a knife makes them invincible, but they probably aren't bright enough to survive an attack no matter if they are armed or not. Those who actually bother to learn how to use a self defense tool, such as a knife, pepper spray, stout walking stick or best of all, a firearm, are going to be able to do a lot of public good. A trained and armed person is less likely to be a victim, more likely to help someone else and more likely to remove a criminal from society.

This issue of disarming the public is never truly about public safety. Disarming the public only benefits criminals who want helpless targets and governments that wish to control people. Police officers prefer to arrest unarmed people. Leaders don't want to worry about rebellion when they pass laws that they know will anger the people. Keep in mind that it is already against the law to harm someone else without a good reason (e.g., self defense). Thus, outlawing weapons is redundant unless there are motives other than public safety. If you have a weapon and don't hurt anybody, you aren't a problem. If you use a weapon to harm someone, you've already broken battery and/or murder laws, regardless of the weapon. If you use a weapon to scare someone without cause, you have broken assault and/or robbery laws, regardless of the weapon.