worcsetor, Ma to inforce 1906 knife law

[tshadowchaser]

What we’re seeing is a crisis,” Police Chief Gary J. Gemme said. “We need the entire criminal justice system to see it as a crisis.”

Both police and the Worcester District Attorney’s Office see the rise in the use of knives in crimes as an urgent situation.

Now, a state criminal statute, seldom used in recent years and whose roots trace back to passage in 1906, will be applied and enforced in cases where people are fighting or causing chaos while carrying a knife. The statute, under the Crimes Against Public Peace, Section 10 of Chapter 269, General Laws of Massachusetts, lists a number of weapons, including different types of knives and odd and rarely used weapons.

Knives are easier to conceal than guns, police said. Knives are more accessible and there have been no consequences to carrying one — something that will change when authorities begin aggressively pursuing the crimes against public peace statute.

MORE:
http://www.telegram.com/article/20081012/NEWS/810120584/1116/NEWSREWIND


Be sure to read the comments that have been sent in also

 

[Imua Kuntao]

Knives dont kill people, people kill people. Most knife attacks occur within famlies and it is a kitchen knife that is used. We as a nation must not let any Fed., State, County, or city government pass any new knife laws! We are losing all our freedoms and rights, the governments are getting more control over us all, and it is the super rich who control the governments.

 

[shesulsa]

Maybe they need to let people carry firearms again. You know ... according to the constitution. The more they restrict citizen weaponry, the more improvisation the people will find. It's historically true.

 

[Ninjamom]

Where in the US Constitution is 'the right to bear arms' spelled out as applying only to firearms? Didn't the first American militiamen carry pikes and swords more often than muskets?

 

[Cryozombie]

Where in the US Constitution is 'the right to bear arms' spelled out as applying only to firearms? Didn't the first American militiamen carry pikes and swords more often than muskets?

Well, I dunno if that is true or not, however you are correct in the Second Amendment not ONLY applying to firearms.

The Right of the People to Keep and bear ARMS shall not be infringed.

ARM
Function:noun
Usage:often attributive
Etymology:Middle English armes (plural) weapons, from Anglo-French, from Latin arma
Date:13th century 1 a: a means (as a weapon) of offense or defense;

 

[jks9199]

Looks like the law is similar to laws that prohibit carrying a firearm in the commission of a felony. It's just not really been used as much...

Seems to me to be a reasonable response to a spike in violence -- and beats hell out of a knee jerk new law, like the ones that made crack possession so much worse than possession of powder cocaine... or the various car-jacking statutes.

 

[cdunn]

It certainly appears that that was the intent of the law writers anyway, jks, though it also appears that the law has been frequently updated since 1906. It seems to cover everything under the sun that's not a firearm.

Having lived in Worcester, it kind of surprises me that it hadn't been used more heavily in the past.

 

[tshadowchaser]

Worcester certainly has had a spike in crime over the years as the city grew. I simply worry when any law is passed preventing me from carrying a knife or other weapon. I worry even more when I have to register my weapons. Call me paranoid but I like the idea of having a personal weapon on me

 

[Mark L]

The statute, as conveyed in the article, says you can be charged if you're breaching the public peace while carrying a knife. I didn't see any initiative to require registration or downright prohibition of knives (I scanned quickly, maybe I missed it). So, be good, and you're OK with your tactical folder? Also, I'd hope that "self defense" isn't equated with "breaching the public peace".