"Knife control" in England.

Once renowned as the mother of parliaments and birthplace of the Anglo-Saxon tradition of liberty under law, England has degenerated into a dismal socialist wasteland where law-abiding citizens are imprisoned for using firearms to defend their homes from armed robbers.

London's Metropolitan Police, not content to deprive innocent civilians of firearms, has mounted a campaign to take away their knives, as well. "For the next five weeks people will be able to hand in offensive weapons such as flick knives, butterfly knives and swords without fear of reprisal," reported the May 24 issue of the London Sun tabloid. Yes, in the scepter'd isle, the land of King Arthur, it is now impermissible for civilians to own swords, as well as any other edged weapon that the government doesn't like.

The "amnesty," patterned after gun turn-ins and buy-back programs, is backed by a 5,000 [pounds sterling] fine and supported by a government-aligned "grass-roots" group called "Knives Take Lives." "We are determined to get the scourge of knife crime off our streets," harrumphed Home Office Minister Vernon Coaker, who just may be foolish enough to believe that disarming law-abiding people somehow reduces violent crime.

The proscription against private ownership of edged weapons extends even to collectible science fiction merchandise. To dramatize the supposed urgency of the disarmament program, police raided a home in Gloucester and proudly brandished their trophy, a five-foot, crescent-shaped, two-handled artifact breathlessly referred to by the Sun as "a martial arts sword capable of beheading a man." The object, in fact, was a replica of the "Bat'leth" swords used by Klingon warriors on Star Trek.